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Would call particular attention to the following valuable woks described 
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Hugh. Miller's "Works. 

Bayne'S "Works. Walker's "Works. Miall's "Works. Bungener's Wosk. 

Animal of Scientific Discovery. Knight's Knowledge is Power. 

Krummaeher's Suffering Saviour, 

Banvard's American Histories. The Aimwell Stories. 

VewcOmb's Works. Tweedie's Works. Chambers's Works. Harris' Works. 

Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. 

ISrs. Knignfs Life of Montgomery. Kitto's History of Palestin 

Wheewell's Work. Wayland's Works. Agassiz's Works. 




a.r.'stifsrAis,. 



William's Works. Guyot's Works. 

Thompson's Better Land. Kimball's Heaven. Valuable Works on Missions. 

Haven's Mental Philosophy. Buchanan's Modern Atheism. 

Cruden's Condensed Concordance. Eadie's Analytical Concordance. 

The Psalmist : a Collection of Kymns. 

Valuable School Books. Works for Sabbath Schools. 

Memoir of Amos Lawrence. 

Poetical Works of Milton, Cowper, Scott. Elegant Miniature Voluir.pr. 

Arvine's Cyclopsedia of Anecdotes. 

Bipley's Notes on G-ospels, Acts, and Bomans. 

Sprague's European Celebrities. Marsh's Camel and the Hallig. 

Boget's Thesaurus of English Words. 

Hackett's Notes on Acts. M'Whorter's Yahvch Christ. 

Siebold and Stannius's Comparative Anatomy. Marco's C-eologieal Map, IT. 8. 

Beligious and Miscellaneous Works. 

Works in the various Department* c*e Literature, Science and Art. 



GOULD & LINCOLN, 



PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLEKS, 

59 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON. 



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G©~ G. & L. -would call attention to their extensive list of publications, embracing valuablo 
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Colleges and Miscellaneous, etc., hi large variety, the productions of some of the ablest 
writers, and most scientific men of the age, among which will be found those of Chambers, 
llucrh Miller, Agassiz, Gould, Guyot, Marcou, Bayne, Rogers. Dr. Harris, Dr. Wayland, Dr. 
Williams, L)r. Ripley, Dr. Kitto, Dr. Krummacher, Dr. Twcedic, Dr. Choules, Dr. Sprugui , 
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Knowledge IS POWer. The Productive 
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Open where you will, you will find matter 
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Chambers' Miscellany, with mustra- 

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Chambers' Home Book. A choice se- 
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Cyclopedia of Anecdotes, a choice 

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The choicest collection of anecdotes ever 
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Works by Hn<?h Miller: 

Testimony of the E.ceks. 

Footprints of the Creator. 

Old Red Sand -tone. 

My First Impressions of England 

and its People. 
lly Schools and Schoolmates. 



Life of James Montgomery. Abridged 

from the recent London seven vol. ed. By 
Mrs. II. C. Knight, author of "Lady Hun- 
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EsSaj'S « in Biography and Criticism. By 
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Di i. la way's Roman Antiquities. 

PALEY'S Tlicolor/i/. 

Ac \ssi/.' and Gould's Zoology. 
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Barton's Grammar, and Exercises in Com~ 
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Thesaurus of English words and 

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The Natural History of the human 

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(9) 






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late Amos Lawrence. Edited by his 
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Kitto's Popnlar Cyelop&dia of bib- 
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Br. Williams' Works. 

Lectures on the Lord's Prayer — Re- 
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Works by Rev. Harvey Newcomb. 
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Banvard's Seiues of American His- 
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tory of Maryland and the old French War. 



God Revealed in Nature and In 

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Philosophy of the Plan ef Salvation. 

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Christian Life ; social and individual. 

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and J. B. Jeter., D. D. Published in vari-, 
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j 









SALVATION BY CHRIST. 



A SERIES OF 



DISCOURSES 



ON SOME OF THE MOST 



IMPORTANT DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL. 



FRANCIS WAYLAND. 






BOSTON: 
GOULD AND LINCOLN, 

59 "WASHINGTON STREET. 

NE.W YORK: SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO. 

CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCUARD. 

1859. 



zr£ 






J. 



Entered, according to Art of Congress, in the year 1858, by 

FRANCIS WAYLAND, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District "Court of the District of 

Rhode Island. 






STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 



FEINTED BT 
EOBGE C. BAND & AVEBY. 



PREFACE. 



Shortly after the appearance of the "University 
Sermons," the publishers desired that the title should 
be changed, inasmuch as the work was addressed no 
more to students in college than to inquirers after 
religious truth in general. I then declined to make 
any alteration. Of late, however, they proposed that 
I should modify the volume, in order the better to 
adapt it to the present state of religious feeling in 
many parts of our country. I saw that by the course 
which they suggested, the volume might be rendered 
more unique, and perhaps more useful. I have, 
therefore, omitted two discourses on the " Revolu- 
tions in Europe," and added six never before pub- 
lished, on subjects of greater practical importance. 



IV PREFACE. 

The volume thus revised and greatly enlarged, appears 
under a title which the publishers consider appro- 
priate. In this form it is now presented to all 
who feel the need of salvation by Christ, no less 
than to those whom it has been my pleasure, in 
former years, to instruct. 

F. W. 
Providence, December 16, 1858. 



CONTENTS 



SERMON I. 

THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 
" The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." — Psalm liii. 1 1 

SERMON II. 

PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 
"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." — Psalm liii. 1 16 



SERMON III. 

THE MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

PART I. 

" For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." — Romans iii. 23. — 
" I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you." — John v. 42. 31 



SERMON IV. 

THE MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

PART II. 

"Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over 
to a reprobate mind." — Romans i. 28 47 



SERMON V. 

THE MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

" And the second is like unto it, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
— Matthew xxi. 36 65 

SERMON VI. 

THE FALL OF MAN. 
" By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners." — Romans v. 19 80 

a* 



VI CONTENTS. 

SERMON VII. 

JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 

"Therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." 

— Romans hi. 20 9-1 

SERMON VIII. 

PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH. 

PART I. 

" When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son." — Oalatians iv. 4. 

— "The world by wisdom knew not God." — 1 Corinthians i. 21 106 



SERMON IX. 

PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH. 
PART ir. 
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our 
God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be 
made low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, 
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, 
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." — Isaiah xl. 3, 4 122 



SERMON X . 

THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

PART I. 

'God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them 
that were under the law." — Oalatians iv. 4, 5 137 



SERMON XI. 

THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

PART II. 

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received 
gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell 
among them." — Psalm lxviii. 18 157 



SERMON XII. 

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
A man is justified by faith, without the works of the law." — Romans iii. 28. . . 173 



CONTENTS. Vll 

SERMON XIII. 

CONVERSION. 

" Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." — Romans v. 1 187 

SERMON XIV. 

IMITATORS OF GOD. 
" Be ye therefore followers of God." — Ephesians v. 1 204 

SERMON XV. 

GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 
" He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you." — John xvi. 15 218 

SERMON XVI. 

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

" And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done," 
etc. —Luke ix. 10-17 235 

SERMON XVII. 

THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

u And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one member 
is honored, all the members rejoice with it." — 1 Corinthians xii. 26 251 

SERMON XVIII. 

THE FALL OF PETER. 
" And when he thought thereon, he wept." — Mark xiv. 72 265 



SERMON XIX. 

CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

Following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unright- 
eousness." — 2 Peter ii. 15 288 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON XX. 

VERACITY. 

For he that -will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, 
and his lips that they speak no guile." — 1 Peter iii. 10 299 



SERMON XXI. 

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on mo through 
their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art iu me and I iu 
thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou 
hast sent me." — John xvii. 20, 21 313 



S E R M ON XXII. 

THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through 
their word ; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, 
that they also may be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou hast 
sent me." — John xvii. 20, 21 



SERMON XXIII. 

THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

PART I. 

Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the 
things that are God's." — Matthew xxii. 21 



SERMON XXIV. 

THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

PART II. 

Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the 
things that are God's.' - — Matthew xxii. 21 358 



SERMON XXV. 

THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

PAET III. 

"Render therefore unto Csesar the things that are Cassar's, and unto God the 
things that are God's." — Matthew xxii. 21 371 



SALTATION BY CHRIST. 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM 



"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." 

Psalm liii. 1. 

It is scarcely possible for us to converse, even for a few 
moments, with another human being, without instinctively form- 
ing an opinion respecting his intellectual capacity. Although 
we may be unable definitely to express the reason for our judg- 
ments, yet every one has formed for himself a standard by which 
he estimates the ability of others. We readily and often rashly 
assign to the men whom we meet, a place among the ordinary, 
the distinguished, or the highly gifted ; or among the inferior, 
the weak, or the very weak in intellect. These differences, 
however, may all exist within the normal conditions of the 
human understanding. We sometimes, however, meet with a 
man whose mind does not obey those laws which govern the 
operations of ordinary intelligence. We find ourselves in 
the presence of one with whom we can hold but partial and 
imperfect communion. We perceive that the being before us 
does not form his judgments in the same manner as the rest 
of mankind. He will believe, for instance, with unquestioning 
confidence, an assertion which to other men seems absurd. 
He will, on the other hand, refuse his assent to the plainest 
statement of fact, and hold out unconvinced against an accu- 
mulation of evidence of which a tithe would satisfy a man of 
sober understanding. A person of this character, I think, we 
always designate as a fool. 

But this is not the only form in which folly exhibits itself. 
1 



Y, THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

We sometimes observe men who are convinced of the ex- 
istence of a physical or a moral law, and yet act as if that 
which they believe to be true they certainly knew to be false. 
An idiot, though he may have been burned by the fire, will 
immediately expose himself to the danger of being burned 
again. He will learn wisdom neither from observation nor 
experience. Thus also we see men, for the sake of a mo- 
mentary gratification, deliberately do an act which must work 
the wreck of character and the loss of reputation, and subject 
them through life to the gnawings of unavailing remorse. 
Thus the inebriate surrenders himself to a habit which he 
knows to be destructive of all peace of mind, and which must 
render him inevitably both loathsome and contemptible. Thus 
also we sometimes observe a young man, endowed with prom- 
ising abilities, for whom parents and friends are making 
innumerable sacrifices, before whom the path to honorable 
distinction is plainly set open, basely squandering his time, 
associating with the frivolous, the reckless, and the profligate, 
and choosing for his portion poverty, remorse, and contempt, 
instead of aflluence, conscious rectitude, and elevated standing. 
When we see men thus acting in deliberate defiance of the 
dictates of their own understanding, and in direct opposition to 
their clearly apprehended interests, I believe we always refer 
them to the class of fools. Though endowed with the power 
of forethought, they act as though they were deprived of it ; 
and hence we number them with those on whom the power of 
forethought has never been bestowed. The former of these 
classes may be denominated theoretical, and the latter practi- 
cal, fools. 

It is, however, to be remarked, that the element of folly 
does not, by necessity, pervade the whole intellectual charac- 
ter. There seem to exist, in this respect, what may, perhaps, 
not inappropriately be denominated mental idiosyncracies. 
The man not unfrequently, on some subjects, reasons and 
judges like other men, while, upon other subjects, he is liable 
to the charge of incorrigible folly. In some cases, he may 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 6 

respect the precepts of practical wisdom, while in others he 
seems surrendered up to the dominion of hopeless fatuity. 

Whatever may be the manner in which folly is displayed, 
the feelings with which we contemplate it are marked with 
sufficient distinctness. Where a man is a hopeless idiot, we 
pity him. The- finger of God has touched him, and we are 
bound, by every tie of brotherhood, to treat him with thought- 
ful commiseration. When, however, we behold folly of a 
mixed character, — when a man is endowed with intelligence, 
and acts as if he were an idiot, — I think we are conscious of a 
very different emotion. The man can see some things clearly 
enough, while other things, equally evident, he utterly refuses 
to see. He will believe what he chooses, though it be ever so 
destitute of proof, while he refuses to believe that which 
displeases him, though established on the most irrefragable 
evidence. We cannot but believe that his state of mind is 
owing to some hidden and by no means commendable bias, and 
we can contemplate him neither with respect for his intellect 
nor confidence in his integrity. 

The same sentiments, in most respects, are awakened by the 
exhibition of practical folly. If an idiot, who has never been 
able to appreciate the relation of cause and effect, throws 
himself a second time into the fire, from which, at imminent 
peril to ourselves, we have rescued him, we pity his sad 
calamity. But when a man possessed of a reasonable soul acts 
again and again in opposition to his acknowledged and most 
vital interests ; when he sacrifices all that renders life a blessing 
for a contemptible gratification ; when, in defiance of the plain- 
est dictates of his understanding, he repeatedly calls down 
upon himself the direct penalties of inexorable law, — we may, 
it is true, pity him, but our pity is mingled with feelings nearly 
allied to contempt. 

Indeed, I do not remember any emotions more universal 
than those with which we contemplate the intellectual charac- 
ter of our fellow-men. We admire, nay, we almost venerate, 
a powerful understanding united to vast reach of thought, and 



4 THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

clear -sighted, steadfast continuity of purpose. The veiy fact 
that we hold intellectual fellowship with a mind thus endowed 
creates within us, at times, an emotion akin to that of sub- 
limity. On the contrary, as universal and deep-seated is the 
disgust awakened within us by striking exhibitions cither of 
theoretical or practical folly. I do not know but we feel an 
emotion of self-esteem arising even from the contempt with 
which we never fail to regard it. Nay, " 'tis not in folly not to 
scorn a fool.'" The theoretical fool laughs at the practical 
fool. The practical fool despises the theoretical fool. Thus 
human nature, whether wise or unwise, bears testimony to the 
estimation in which this attribute is held throughout the uni- 
verse of God. 

Such, then, is the nature of the epithet by which the pen 
of inspiration designates the intellectual character of him who 
denies the existence of a God. It declares him to be a fool. 
Observe also the force of the expression. It does not make 
this affirmation solely of him who unblushingly avows his 
atheism, but even of him who cherishes it in the solitude of 
his own bosom — " The fool hath said in his heart, There 
is no God." Let us, then, during the remainder of this 
discourse, attempt to illustrate the truth of this sentiment of 
inspiration. 

From what I have already said, it will at once appear that 
the denial of the existence of God may be either theoretical or 
practical. It is theoretical when we affirm that no such being 
as God exists. It is practical when, professing to believe that 
he exists, we act in all respects as though we believe that he 
did not exist. In the present discourse, we shall treat of the 
first of these errors. 

I have already intimated that theoretical folly may manifest 
itself in two forms, either in that of absurd credulity, or of absurd 
incredulity. I think that in the denial of the existence of God 
both of those elements of folly may be discovered. 

1. It is surely an evidence of absurd credulity to believe 
an assertion, respecting any subject whatever, when no evidence 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 5 

is brought forward to sustain it; and especially when, from 
the necessity of the case, the evidence, if it did exist, is beyond 
the reach of the human understanding. There have frequently 
appeared impostors, who have affirmed that they should never 
die. Men have been found, who, without any evidence, have 
believed their assertions. Has not the whole world united 
in declaring them to be absurdly credulous ? Have they not 
always been believed to be, so far as this subject was con- 
cerned, fools, on whose judgment, in future, no reliance could 
safely be reposed ? Men have frequently predicted that, on a 
particular day, the world would be burned up, and they have 
found persons who believed that such would be the fact, simply 
on the ground of these predictions. Mankind have laughed at 
them as credulous simpletons, merely because, in a matter 
of importance, they believed an assertion unsupported by the 
shadow of evidence. Suppose that, on the ground of your 
affirmation, you could make' a man believe that molten lava 
would not consume him, and that, relying on your declaration, 
he resolved to throw himself into the crater of a volcano ; in 
what estimation would you hold his understanding ? Or sup- 
pose that it were asserted that every star in the firmament is 
a glorified spirit, placed there to gaze forever on the events 
transpiring on this little earth. Were a man to believe this 
assertion, sustained by no evidence — nay, where, if the asser- 
tion were true, the evidence is infinitely beyond the reach of 
the human faculties, — could we believe him to be in possession 
of a sound understanding ? We see, then, in general, that with 
the exception of intuitive propositions, the human mind, in the 
proper exercise of its faculties, can never believe, unless 
through the medium of evidence, and that, if it believe any 
assertion without evidence, we always consider it to be ab- 
surdly credulous. 

Now, the atheist declares to us that there is no God. 
What is the proof of his assertion ? By what syllogism does 
he demonstrate it ? What is his major, and what is his minor 
premise ? He tells us that he has never seen, nor felt, nor 

i* 



O THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

heard God ; and, therefore, that God does not exist. But docs 
nothing exist on earth which has never manifested itself 
either to his senses or to his consciousness ? How does he 
know but, among the truths which have thus far escaped his 
notice, one may be the existence of God ? Has he lived for- 
ever, and been present from eternity, throughout the immensity 
of space? Where was he when the morning stars sang 
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? How 
does he know but that God may have existed where and when 
he was not ? On this subject, I take pleasure in introducing 
to your notice a remarkable passage from Foster's Essays — 
a volume of such inestimable value, that no young man should 
consider his education truly commenced, unless he has given 
it an attentive and thorough perusal. 

" The wonder then turns on the immense intelligence by 
which a man could know that there is no God. What ages 
and what lights are requisite for this attainment ! This intelli- 
gence involves the very attributes of divinity, while a God is 
denied. For, unless this man is omnipresent, unless he is at 
this moment in every place in the universe, he cannot know 
but there may be in some place, manifestations of a Deity, by 
which even he would be overpowered. If he does not know 
absolutely every agent in the universe, the one that he does 
not know may be God. If he is not himself the chief agent 
in the universe, and does not know what is so, that which is so 
may be God. If he is not in absolute possession of all the 
propositions that constitute universal truth, the one which he 
wants may be, that there is a God. If he cannot with certainty 
assign the cause of all that he perceives to exist, that cause 
may be a God. If he does not know every thing that may 
have been done in the immeasurable ages that are past, some 
things may have been done by a God. Thus, unless he 
knows all things, — that is, precludes the idea of another Deity 
by being one himself, — he cannot know that the being whose 
existence he rejects does not exist. But he must know that he 
does not exist, else he deserves equal contempt and com- 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 7 

passion, for the temerity with which he avows his rejection 
and acts accordingly." 

Such, then, my brethren, is the absurdity of the assertion 
that there is no God. It is an assertion not only unsustained 
by evidence, but one, the truth of which could not be certainly 
known, unless the assertor were himself endowed with the 
attributes of the Deity. In a word, I think that any one who 
reflects for a moment upon the fewness and feebleness of the 
faculties of man, and then upon the boundlessness of the uni- 
verse, must be convinced, that the assertion that God does 
not exist, involves within itself all the elements of the most 
revolting absurdity. 

I have, thus far, endeavored to show that atheism is absurd 
in its credulity. I shall next attempt to show that it is equally 
absurd in its unbelief. Not only does it believe without the 
shadow of evidence, nay, where evidence is by necessity im- 
possible, but it disbelieves a proposition of which the evidence 
is interwoven with the very structure of the human under- 
standing. 

Before entering upon this part of our subject, allow me to sug- 
gest a single explanation. I am not about to prove to you the 
existence of God, as though it were to you a matter of doubt. 
You need no such proof. You all believe this all-important 
truth, and no illustration of mine could render it more evident. 
The belief in a First Cause, a superintending Providence, is one 
of the ideas common to our race, as soon as the mind is quick- 
ened into even incipient activity. So necessarily is this belief 
generated among the first forms of human knowledge, that it 
presses through the thick covering of ignorance which com- 
monly overspreads our faculties when man is unenlightened 
by revelation. The mind of the creature needs the idea of a 
Creator, and it will associate this idea with the sun, the moon, 
or the planets, nay, with four-footed beasts arid creeping things, 
rather than live destitute of a belief which is demanded by the 
necessities of our intellectual nature. It is not, then, my design 
to prove to you the existence of a God, but to illustrate to you 



8 THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

the process by which the belief in his existence has become 
universal. In doing this, I hope also in another respect to 
exhibit to you the absurdity of atheism. 

1. In the first place, the idea of power, of cause and efFect, is 
the universal and spontaneous suggestion of the human intelli- 
gence. It springs up unbidden and irrepressible from the first 
perception of a change. We cannot conceive of a change 
without being conscious immediately of the notion of a cause by 
which it was effected. This law of the human mind is univer- 
sal, and its operation may be as readily perceived in the case 
of a child as of a philosopher. You may easily make the 
experiment for yourselves. Remove a child's toy from one 
room to another, and he will instantly ask you who did it. 
This change of its place immediately suggests to him the idea 
of a cause. Tell him that no one did it, that it took place 
without the exertion of any sufficient power, and see if you 
can make him believe you. Let him burn his hand in the 
fire, and see if you can induce him to repeat the experiment. 
His own infantile intelligence has attained the conviction that 
like causes produce like effects, and no argument can possibly 
eradicate it. But suppose it were otherwise ; suppose that 
you observed a child to be entirely destitute of this suggestion, 
that the notion of cause and effect never seemed to govern its 
conduct, but that it would place its hand in a flame as often as 
an opportunity occurred, without being able to arrive at the 
notion that the fire was the cause of its pain. You would 
decide at once that the child was an idiot ; and you would not 
be mistaken. You see that a human mind cannot be deprived 
of this suggestion, without losing an essential element of its 
original intelligence. 

The truth which I wish to illustrate was forcibly taught by 
Dr. Beattie, when he wished to impress upon his son the fact 
of the existence of God. Tracing the letters of the child's 
name in the fresh mould of the garden, he sowed in the lines 
some ordinary seeds. Very soon the son discovered his own 
name distinctly growing out of the ground, and demanded of 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 9 

his father the cause of it. Dr. Beattie at first told him it was 
produced by chance ; but the child would not believe it, nor 
could he be persuaded by all his father's ingenuity that it was 
not the work of some intelligent agent. From this incident, 
he was taught the idea of a universal cause. I think that 
every one who reflects upon this occurrence will declare that 
this child, in insisting upon the necessity of a cause, spoke the 
language of human nature. 

Now, we are encompassed on every side by changes spring- 
ing up around us in infinite variety. Every season of the 
year, every month, every day, and every night, nay, every 
hour, is crowded with them in numbers without beginning and 
without end, and every one, when we reflect upon it, by 
the constitution of our minds, suggests to us the idea of a 
cause. The necessity of this idea is, therefore, pressed upon 
us, by the very constitution of om* minds, as soon as we begin 
to observe the changes continually occurring in the universe 
around us. 

2. Secondly, when we examine this notion of cause and 
effect, we perceive that at first it is satisfied with observing 
the relation of antecedent and consequent combined with the 
idea of power. It is not long, however, before the mind proceeds 
farther, and asks not only for a cause, but for a sufficient 
cause. The child of Dr. Beattie could not be made to 
believe that the wind and the rain had by accident deposited 
the seeds in the order in which he perceived them. He knew 
that this must have been done by a cause that knew his name, 
and could spell it, and form the letters of which it was com- 
posed. Until such a cause could be suggested, his mind could 
not rest satisfied. So, when we are asked what causes the 
growth of vegetation, we reply, heat and moisture, the rain 
and the sunshine. At first, this explanation may seem satis- 
factory ; but soon the elements of our intelligence require us 
to proceed a step farther. We observe the innumerable forms 
of beauty and utility springing up every where around us ; we 
examine the wonderful laws by which eveiy process of vege- 



10 THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

tation is governed ; we trace the relations existing between the 
vegetable and animal kingdoms ; we pursue our inquiries into 
the higher ranks of being, and learn the habitudes, the in- 
stincts, the uses of brutes, and the faculties, the intelligence, 
and the development of man. We at once conclude that our 
first conception of cause is wholly inadequate to account for 
the changes which we perceive. The drop of water and the 
beam of sunlight could never in strictness be the cause of the 
matchless beauty with which the earth is overspread. We 
cannot ascribe to senseless matter a power infinitely transcend- 
ing that of the highest human intelligence. The most pro- 
found philosopher would be pronounced insane were he to 
attempt the formation of a blade of grass ; and can we ascribe 
to brute matter the power to subject the elements of nature to 
complicated and mysterious law, or to create the blushing 
loveliness of spring or the rich abundance of autumn ? We at 
once determine that, hidden behind these visible antecedents, 
there must exist an adequate cause, an intelligent power, com- 
petent to the production of all these changes, and to which all 
that we see is, from necessity, subordinate. We are thus 
led to conceive of an underived and absolute cause. When 
the mind arrives at this idea, it rests satisfied. It demands 
nothing more ultimate. The mind of the creature reposes 
upon the conception of a self-existent, all-powerful, and all- 
wise Creator, and it is henceforth at rest. 

3. But, supposing that we have arrived at the notion of 
underived causation, the question may still be asked, May not 
several independent causes originate the changes which are 
taking place around us ? This question is readily answered by 
examining the facts in the case. Every thing that we behold 
is manifestly a part of one universal whole. Every law is 
found to be in perfect harmony with every other law. Were 
the various forces which regulate the motions of our system 
in the smallest degree modified, universal ruin would ensue. 
Eveiy thing teaches us that the universe, with all its changes, 
is nothing more than the realization of one single conception. 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 11 

This fact excludes the idea of a multiplicity of causes, and 
teaches us, that the cause of causes, the absolute causation, is 
every where one and the same. We thus arrive at the idea 
of a universal cause, a sufficient reason why all things are, 
and why they are such as they are ; that is, of a Creator infi- 
nite in power and unsearchable in wisdom. 

4. When we reflect upon human conduct, we find that we 
always connect the outward act with the spiritual disposition, 
or intention, from which it proceeds. Observing them in this 
light, we perceive in every action the quality of right or vir- 
tue, or of its opposite wrong or vice. We know that the con- 
stitution of the moral beings around us is similar to our own. 
We refer their outward manifestations to their appropriate 
spiritual dispositions, and hence, from their actions, we judge 
men to be either virtuous or vicious. Virtue we cannot but 
esteem and venerate ; vice we cannot but despise and abhor. 
These, I think, must be universally considered as the proper 
judgments of all moral intelligences. Let us now refer these 
obvious principles to our judgments respecting the first and 
universal cause. We observe by our own experience that our 
virtuous actions are always followed by happiness and that 
self-approbation which is, in itself, an exceeding great reward. 
We, on the contraiy, observe that vicious actions are followed 
by pain and remorse, and a fearful looking-for of judgment. 
We observe that the same consequences follow the cor- 
respondent actions of others. We trace the vicissitudes of 
nations, and observe that they are regulated by the same law. 
We see that, irrespective of all human power and human 
foresight, nay, in despite of all the wisdom of man, virtue is 
indissolubly connected with happiness, and vice with misery. 
Here, then, is an order of sequence established, and it must 
have been established by the universal, the all-pervading 
cause. Here, then, we behold the perpetual acting of the 
Almighty ; and from it we learn the moral attributes which 
compose his character. We thus are taught that he loves 
virtue and abhors vice, and we conclude that his moral, like his 



12 THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

natural, attributes are infinite. We thus arrive at the concep- 
tion of an Almighty Cause who is infinitely holy. Thus our 
intellectual and moral natures unite in ascribing to the Creator 
eveiy perfection of which we can conceive in an infinite 
degree. Such, it seems to me, is the result to which the 
unbiased faculties of the human mind would naturally arrive. 

That mankind have generally arrived at this result is by no 
means asserted. The apostle Paul declares that men did not 
like to retain God in their knowledge, and, therefore, they 
exchanged him for false gods, and worshipped and served the 
creature rather than the Creator. What I intend to affirm is, 
that this is the result to which the faculties of the human mind 
arrive, whenever they are employed in the earnest and honest 
inquiry after God. Nay, more, this is the result to which 
they actually have in some cases arrived, even when deprived 
of the light of revelation. Thus saith the apostle to the 
Romans : " The invisible things of God, even his eternal power 
and Godhead, are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
that are made." Thus also saith the Psalmist : " The heavens 
declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth forth 
his handy work. 11 Accordingly, many of the heathen philoso- 
phers, but, above all, Socrates, from an observation of the 
works of creation and of the providential dealings of God, 
arrived at a conception of the character of the First Cause very 
similar to that which I have described. They attained to this 
knowledge without the assistance of revelation ; and hence 
we learn that this attainment is within the reach of the unas- 
sisted human faculties. If, then, men have not commonly 
discovered these truths, or if, having discovered, they have not 
retained them in their knowledge, the reason is to be found, 
not in the inadequateness of their intellectual faculties, but 
in some cause of an entirely different character. 

Now, the atheist, in defiance of this universal suggestion 
of the human intelligence, affirms that there is no God. He 
thus excludes from the human mind the idea of cause and 
effect, without which the essential nature of mind would be 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 13 

changed. Abolish this suggestion, and I do not say that we 
should be destitute of mind, but it would not be the mind of a 
man. Again, admit the idea of cause and effect, and suppose 
that absolute causation resides in mere physical antecedents, 
and we utter an assertion from which the mind even of child- 
hood revolts. Again, admit the idea of absolute causation, that 
is, of almighty power and omniscient wisdom, and deprive 
it of all its moral attributes, — let such a being be neither holy, 
nor good, nor merciful, nor just, — and you have created a con- 
ception from which the nature of man recoils in unutterable 
dismay. Thus, atheism, in any form in which it can be pre- 
sented, leads us at once to intellectual or moral absurdity. 
Thus, he who denies the being of God not only refuses to 
believe what is proven on incontrovertible evidence, but he 
denies the existence of the elementary principles of human 
intelligence. Were he thus to deny a fact in history, or a 
doctrine of philosophy, he surely could not escape the imputa- 
tion of egregious folly. 

In thus stating the necessity of the idea of a Deity to the 
human mind, as soon as its faculties are at all developed, I 
think I do not overstate the fact. A remarkable illustration of 
the truth of what I have said has been presented in modern 
history. You know that, during the French revolution, the 
national assembly decreed that there was no God, and that 
death was an eternal sleep. There speedily followed a disso- 
lution of the elements of society, an anarchy baptized in 
blood. The authors of these blasphemies were soon alarmed 
at the results of their own labors, and quailed before the 
tempest which they had themselves excited. Robespierre 
himself was anxious to restore the worship of the Supreme 
Being, profoundly remarking, "Were there no God, it would 
be necessary for us to form one." The nation rejoiced to 
welcome back a belief demanded by the principles of our 
nature, and without which civil society could not long exist. 

But, lastly, the belief of the atheist is wholly inoperative 
for the purpose for which it is intended. His object is, by 
2 



14 THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 

denying the existence of God, to banish the idea of immortality 
and of a state of future moral retribution. Thus, in the case 
to which I have just alluded, the assertion that death is an 
eternal sleep immediately followed the denial of the existence 
of God. But, even were atheism true, it furnishes no argu- 
ment whatever against either of these all-important truths. It 
is very obvious that we exist now, and the atheist asserts that 
we exist while there is no God. Why, then, though there be 
no God, may we not continue to exist forever ? It is manifest 
that, in the present life, individuals and nations are the subjects 
of moral government, misery follows the gratification of law- 
less desire, and happiness attends upon self-denying virtue. 
The atheist asserts that all this occurs on earth, while there is 
no God ; why, then, even were there no God, might not the 
same system of moral government be carried on through 
eternity ? To these questions no answer can be returned ; and 
hence, were atheism true, it would present no reason what- 
ever why we should not exist forever, and forever reap the 
due reward of our moral actions. 

We see, then, the absurdity of atheism. It asserts that 
which cannot be known to be true by any finite intelligence. 
It denies what cannot be disbelieved without denying the 
essential laws of human thought. It does this for a reason 
which would remain unaffected whether the assertion were 
true or false. 

In conclusion, young gentlemen, let me urge you to place 
this truth at the foundation of all your knowledge, and to 
make it the ever-present idea by which all your moral charac- 
ter is formed. Eschew every system of ethics or philosophy 
that does not adopt as its elementary truth the existence and 
attributes of God, and our moral accountability to him. From 
this truth learn to draw succor in the hour of adversity, 
deliverance from the assaults of temptation, counsel in the 
day of prosperity, and sustaining grace in the article of death. 
Thus, by the teachings of the Spirit, shall you grow up into the 
stature of perfect men in Christ Jesus. And remember always 



THEORETICAL ATHEISM. 15 

to shun, as you would your most dreaded enemy, the man who 
either by precept or practice would diminish the power of this 
truth over your conduct. Remember that it is the fool who 
hath said in his heart there is no God, and observe that inspira- 
tion has assigned the reason of his unbelief — "Corrupt are 
they ; they have done abominable works." Thus was it three 
thousand years ago, thus is it now, and thus will it be forever. 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM 



"The tool hath said in his heart, There is no God." 

Psalm liii. 1. 

In the preceding discourse, I attempted to illustrate the 
folly of theoretical atheism. I there intimated that this folly 
existed in another form — that, whilst we believe in the exist- 
ence of God, we may yet act as though there were no God. 
This I termed practical atheism. To the consideration of this 
exhibition of folly let me now request your attention. 

We are all, I trust, satisfied of the absurdity of theoretical 
atheism. Our reason imperatively demands a First Cause ; our 
moral and intellectual nature imposes upon us the belief in his 
infinite perfections. But in your case this is not all. This 
belief has been instilled into your minds from your earliest 
infancy. As soon as you opened your eyes upon creation, 
you were taught that " the heavens declare the glory of God, 
and the firmament showeth forth his handy work." The first 
lesson that you learned was the prayer that your mother taught 
you. Night and morning, as you knelt by her side, you have 
lisped out your infantile petition to " Our Father who art in 
heaven." I trust that the influence of these blessed instruc- 
tions has been obliterated neither by the turbulent sports of 
boyhood, nor the graver temptations of youth. I feel conscious, 
then, that I address a company of believers in the existence 
of God. Whatever may be your errors, theoretical atheism is 
not to be numbered among them. No argument could shake 
your belief in this great elementary fact which lies at the 
foundation of all true knowledge. 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 17 

But while all this is so, may you not be justly liable to the 
charge of practical atheism ? You believe that there is one 
God. You do well. But do your works correspond with your 
belief? If they do not, and just in so far as they do not, you 
are guilty of practical atheism. In order to examine this 
question more accurately, let us proceed to unfold the concep- 
tion which you have formed of the existence and attributes 
of God. 

1. We all, I presume, involve in our conception of God the 
idea of personality. One of the first lessons of science 
teaches us that qualities cannot exist without a subject, nor 
energies without an agent. Black, white, hot, cold, cannot 
exist of themselves, but only as there is something in which 
they inhere. So we can form no conception of the actual ex- 
istence of power, wisdom, goodness, or justice, unless there be 
some being to whom these attributes belong; that is, some 
agent who is powerful, and wise, and good, and just. To 
speak of the First Cause, the real and sufficient reason of all 
things, as a collection of attributes without any actual essence 
to which they belong, is absurd. Equally absurd is it to speak 
of the First Cause as an abstract notion. An abstract notion, a 
generalized idea, has no existence whatever, but in our own 
thoughts. The abstract idea of power or goodness, as of 
whiteness or blackness, is a mere conception, a state of our 
own minds. To speak, then, of the all-sufficient cause as an 
abstraction, without personality, without positive existence, is, 
as it seems to me, to ascribe creative power and wisdom to 
the changing states of our own intellect. I do not know that any 
thing can possibly be more absurd than such a notion — for be- 
lief it can scarcely be called. In opposition to all such teach- 
ings we conceive of the Deity as an actual existence, an infinite 
being, whom, by the analogy of language, we term person, to 
whom all the attributes of Divinity by necessity belong. 

2. To this Infinite Being we involuntarily ascribe self-exist- 
ence. He is the cause of causes, the ultimate reason why 
every thing exists. If he be the all-sufficient cause for all 

2 # 



18 PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 

other existence, he must be the ultimate cause, or else there 
must be a succession of causes without beginning or end. 
which is absurd. As soon as we reflect upon such a suppo- 
sition, we are conscious that it is, if I may be allowed the 
expression, an unthinkable conception. When, on the con- 
trary, we attain to the idea of an underived and self-existent 
cause, the Craving of our intellect is satisfied. It is as such a 
being that the Scriptures always speak of God. " Thus saith 
the Lord, I am the first and I am the last, and besides me 
there is no God. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the begin- 
ning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, 
and which is to come, the Almighty." 

This one truth admitted, we immediately perceive that there 
must exist an infinite difference between the Creator and the 
creature. Creation is derived, contingent, accidental. The 
Creator is underived and necessary. Creation might or might 
not have existed. The self-existent must always have been. 
Every thing else is from its nature changeable. He is essen- 
tially unchangeable. Were creation multiplied a hundred fold, 
he would be still the same. Were it all annihilated, he would 
still remain the unalterable, independent I AM. 

3. Intimately associated with the attribute of self-existence 
is that of eternity, which reason, as well as revelation, teach us 
to ascribe to the Deity. The idea of eternity arises spon- 
taneously in our minds, as soon as we begin to think upon 
duration. We know that we have existed but for a very few 
years, and that duration existed before we were created. 
When did it commence ? We go backward to the origin of 
our race, we ascend to the dawn of the creation of our system, 
— still our idea of duration is unexhausted. We begin with 
the star that was last created ; we think back to the moment 
of the creation of that which next preceded it ; we go back to 
the era when one and another was not, until we arrive at the 
period when all was darkness, ere yet God had said, u Let there 
be light," — and we have not yet even diminished our conception 
of duration. We have exhausted our powers of measurement, 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 19 

but duration still stretches backward to infinity. We have 
traced creation to its origin ; but when did the Creator begin to 
exist ? What limits can we assign to his duration ? We feel 
at once that to affirm beginning to the uncreated one is absurd. 
We bow down in humble adoration, and exclaim with the 
Hebrew lawgiver, " Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or ever thou hadst formed the earth or the world, even from 
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." 

This is, however, only our notion of the eternity of the past. 
We turn and look forward towards an eternity that is to come. 
We go onward, in imagination, until we arrive at the period 
when our system, having finished its appointed course, shall be 
dissolved. Star after star, in the long lapse of millions of 
ages, goes out in darkness. The last light in the firmament 
flickers and is extinguished. The heavens have passed away 
as a scroll, and the material universe has ceased to be. Our 
power to measure the eternity to come is exhausted, but what 
shall measure the being of Him at whose word it was created, 
and at whose word it became nothing ? When can underived 
existence end ? We cannot even conceive of his liability to 
change or variableness, for this would involve the idea either 
of original imperfection or of force impressed from without. 
Either of these suppositions is absurd. "A thousand years " 
(the period of all created things) " in his sight are but as yes- 
terday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." " Of old 
hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are 
the works of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt en- 
dure ; yea, all of them shall wax old as doth a garment ; as a 
vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed ; 
but thou art the same, and thy years have no end." 

4. To the Deity we cannot but ascribe infinite and absolute 
power. 

Our conceptions of created power are by necessity limited. 
The beings with which we are conversant are endowed with 
it in different degrees. We readily observe the difference 
between feebleness and strength, but we soon arrive at a limit 



20 PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 

beyond which both sink to the level of equality. The insect 
that floats in the sunbeam, and " behemoth, chief of the ways of 
God," are alike powerless to heave the mountain from its foun- 
dations, or to uphold the earth in its orbit. Created power is 
limited in kind as well as degree. Leviathan, " when he raiseth 
himself up, may cause the mighty to be afraid ; " but he is a 
brute, for God hath denied to him understanding. The loftiest 
intellect that the world has seen, can neither protect the body 
which it inhabits from the poisonous miasma of the marsh, nor 
avert the death which is instilled into our veins by the venom 
of the gliding reptile. But no such limits restrict our conceptions 
when we reflect upon the omnipotence of the Creator. His 
power extends equally throughout infinite space, and every 
where it is measureless. 

Nor does the power of the Creator resemble that of his 
creatures more in kind than in degree. Our power is ever 
relative. We can no more create the atom that floats in the 
sunbeam, than the planet that moves in the firmament. The 
changes which we seem to effect in the world around us, are 
nothing but the exhibitions of God's wonder-working power. 
The husbandman prepares the earth and scatters abroad the 
seed, but it is " God who giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, 
and to every seed his own body." But let man attempt by his 
own will to originate a single change in the creation, and he 
finds himself as powerless as the clods of the valley. To the 
Creator, on the contrary, we ascribe absolute and essential 
efficiency. By his simple will all things were created. " God 
said, Let there be light, and light was. By the word of the Lord 
were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath 
of his mouth. For he spake and it was, he commanded and 
it stood fast." And the God that in the beginning created, sus- 
tains and governs all ; upholding all things by the word of his 
power, and doing his will in the armies of heaven and among 
the inhabitants of the earth. 

5. Again : To God we ascribe omniscient wisdom. Traces 
of this attribute are recognized in man. Having an end in 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 21 

view, we can, with various degrees of skill, so adjust our means 
as to accomplish our purposes. But the profoundest wisdom 
of man reveals nothing so clearly as its own inherent feeble- 
ness. By what strange infatuation are its ends selected, and 
how sadly inadequate are the means by which it hopes to 
attain them ! How puerile have been most of the objects of 
research of the wisest of men ! How small is the amount of 
truth which can now be sifted out from the labors of the human 
intellect through the long range of by-gone ages ! The plans 
of statesmen and conquerors have resulted in almost universal 
failure. The military and administrative talents of Napoleon 
were perhaps greater than those ever bestowed upon any other 
man. The means at his disposal were such as human intellect 
never before wielded. Yet, before his death, the lines which 
he had traced on the map of Europe were already effaced,. 
and the political edifice which he had erected had crumbled 
into ruins. Thus must it be always with a creature of yester- 
day, blind to the future, and ignorant of the purposes of Him 
who doeth all things according to the counsel of his own will. 
Infinitely dissimilar from our knowledge is that possessed 
by the Deity. Our knowledge is limited to time ; his pervades 
eternity. We know nothing more than the relation which 
objects sustain to us; he knows all things absolutely. We 
know nothing but the outward act, the visible seeming; he, 
the motive hidden in the deepest recesses of consciousness. 
We know not beyond the present ; to him the most distant 
future is open as the day. Our plans are continually thwarted 
by the interference of others ; he, while allowing every created 
moral agent the unrestrained exercise of his free will, without 
variableness or the shadow of a turning, accomplishes those 
designs which were formed from the outgoings of Eternity. 
In conformity with these views are the teachings of the Scrip- 
ture on this subject. " There is no darkness nor shadow of 
death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." 
" Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight ; 
but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with 



22 PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 

whom we have to do." " He disappointeth the desires of the 
crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. 
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of 
the froward is carried headlong." " Surely the wrath of man 
shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou 
restrain." 

6. To the Deity we ascribe every moral attribute in infinite 
perfection. He is the Holy One. By this we mean that his 
nature is spotlessly pure, not by accident, but by the necessity 
of. his being; not only that he never did wrong, but that he 
could no more do wrong than cease to exist. Nor is this all. 
The holiness of God is not a mere negative quality, rendering 
it impossible for him to do wrong, but a positive attribute, ren- 
dering it equally necessary for him to do right. And, besides, 
with this perfection we always associate a moral affection, a 
love of goodness, and a hatred to sin, intense and ever opera- 
tive. Virtue, throughout his moral universe, always meets his 
approving smile, while vice is every where confronted by his 
withering and all-consuming frown. 

The immaculate purity of the divine nature is every where 
revealed, as we reflect upon the relations which he sustains to 
his creatures. The existence of moral agents, endowed with 
the power of affecting for good or for evil the destinies of each 
other, presupposes the necessity of government. There must 
exist a Judge of the earth, who will control the injurious and 
punish the wicked, as well as protect the innocent and reward 
the righteous. It is when we look up to God in this relation, 
that we adore him as a being of spotless justice. Never has an 
emotion been indulged, a word spoken, or an action performed, 
in the slightest degree tinged with virtue or vice, but he has, 
with perfect exactness, estimated its moral quality. He has 
thoroughly known either the palliations or aggravations by 
which it was attended. He has observed the degree of light 
which we have followed, or from which we have turned away ; 
and the strength of the temptation which we have successfully 
resisted, or by which we have been overcome. He thus is 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 23 

perfectly acquainted with the desert of every action, and to 
every moral agent he metes out the retribution justly due to 
obedience or transgression. Nothing is too high to be reached 
by his award, nothing is so humble as to be neglected in his 
adjudication. From eternity to eternity, among the numberless 
ranges of existence that people the universe, this attribute has 
ever been exerted without the variableness or the shadow of 
a turning. " He is a rock, his way is perfect ; for all his ways 
are judgment ; — a God of truth and without iniquity, just and 
right is he." " The Lord reigneth ; let the earth rejoice ; let the 
multitude of the isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness 
are round about him, justice and judgment are the habitation 
of his throne." 

7. But again : God is re\ealed to us not only as the Judge, 
but as the Father of the cre^ures whom he has made. Viewed 
in this relation, we behold him clothed in every attribute of 
parental goodness, desiring, with infinite love, the happiness of 
us his children. Every thing within us and around us bears 
witness to the existence of this perfection of the Godhead. 
Our senses and the objects which quicken them into enjoy- 
ment, the laws which govern the universe around us, the won- 
derful fabric of the intellect within us, our moral nature, its 
capacity for endless happiness, and its near relation to him 
whose image it bears, the provision which has been made for 
its ceaseless progress in virtue as it is changed from glory to 
glory, all teach us that God is love. But this is only a distant 
view of his beneficence. A more affecting conception of this 
attribute is derived from considering the relation which our 
Father who is in heaven sustains to every one of his individual 
children. By him the very hairs of our head are all num- 
bered. He hears the cry of the raven, and scatters crumbs in 
the pathway of the sparrow. He invites you, and me, and 
every creature capable of knowing him, to approach him in 
all the confidence of filial affection, to unbosom to hirn all our 
sorrows, to spread before him all our wants, and, by intimate 
communion with him, to be transformed more and more into 



24 PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 

his moral likeness. He is the Father of the fatherless, the 
Judge of the widow, the Helper of the helpless, and the Com- 
forter of those that be cast down. " How excellent is thy lov- 
ing kindness, O God ! Therefore the children of men put their 
trust in the shadow of thy wings." 

The most astonishing manifestation of the goodness of God 
is, however, made to us in the remedial dispensation. We are 
taught in the Holy Scriptures that our whole race is in rebellion 
against this holy and most merciful God, and that, had justice 
awarded to us the demerit of our sins, we must have been 
consigned to eternal banishment from his presence. The 
thoughts of our hearts were evil continually. We did not like 
to retain God in our knowledge, but said unto him, Depart from 
us, for we desire not a knowledge of thy^ways. He had but 
to leave us to our own- choices, and our everlasting dwelling 
must have been with the angels that kept not their first estate, 
to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. But 
even here the tender mercy of our Father did not abandon us. 
When all the conditions of our first probation had been vio- 
lated, he provided for us a second probation, established upon 
better promises. He accepted a propitiation for our offences, 
and offered again to receive us to his favor. " God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
Jesus Christ, having obtained eternal redemption for us, is now 
exalted a Prince and a Savior to grant repentance unto Israel 
and remission of sins. And now the God and Father of all is 
beseeching us, by every sentiment of duty and gratitude, to be 
reconciled to him. In every form of language, and by every 
affecting similitude, he assures us that he is not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the 
truth. Though we have wandered far off into a strange land, 
the eye of our Father in heaven is still bent upon us in com- 
passion. From time to time, his invitations to return fall upon 
our ear through the ministrations of his Spirit ; and if he dis- 
cover within us the feeblest emotion of penitence, he cultivates 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 25 

and strengthens it ; and, as soon as we form the resolution, I 
will arise and go to my Father, — while we are yet a great way 
off, he hastens to receive us with the joyful welcome — " This my 
son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found." 

Such are some of the conceptions which right reason, as 
well as revealed religion, present *to us of the character of 
God. Every man must, I think, at once perceive that his 
moral nature could worship no other being without doing 
violence to itself. And yet more : as soon as we become 
acquainted with the existence and attributes of such a God, we 
become immediately conscious that it is our highest duty to 
love, to obey, and adore him. The capacity for such com- 
munion with God allies us to his moral nature. Destitute of it, 
we should be but in a small degree distinguished from the 
brutes. 

But, if such be the character of God, and if we be his 
accountable creatures, that he exists must be infinitely the 
most important fact that can come within the range of our 
knowledge. If he is the universal, all-sufficient, and inde- 
pendent cause, upon him by necessity depend all that we now 
enjoy, and all that in the future we can hope for. If he i3 
every where present, beholding the evil and the good, and has 
known our thought afar off, our whole history, as it essentially 
is, is perfectly spread out before his omniscient eye. If he be 
not only the omniscient but the impartial Judge, in whose sight 
the wicked cannot stand, we must at his hand receive the due 
reward of .all our deeds, meted out by unspotted holiness. If 
he is all goodness, we are bound to render to him a tribute of 
gratitude as ceaseless as the stream of his beneficence ; and 
the failure to do this is sin. If we must soon come into the 
unveiled presence of the Lord God Almighty, we can never 
behold him in peace unless our moral natures are in harmony 
with his. If he have so loved us as to give his well-beloved 
Son for our offences, and we have refused his offer of eternal 
life, there remaineth no other sacrifice for sin, and we must 
meet our Father in heaven guilty pf having treated with con- 
tempt the message of redeeming love. 
3 



26 PHACTICAL ATHEISM. 

From these considerations it is, I think, evident that the 
existence of God, and specially of such a God as the Scrip- 
tures reveal, is by far the most practical truth of which we 
can possibly conceive. It is most intimately related to every 
action which we perform, eveiy emotion in which we indulge, 
and every motive by which we are governed throughout our 
whole existence. We cannot conceive of a situation in which 
it is possible for us to exist where this truth ought not to exert 
an unlimited control over our conduct. It is the foundation of 
all that we hope for and of all that we dread. Were all other 
truth abolished, let this only remain, and the foundations of the 
moral universe would continue unmoved. Were every other 
being annihilated, let God and our individual selves only 
exist, and no essential source of our happiness would be dried 
up. Were the existence of God to cease, all other things, 
were it possible, remaining, this universe would become a hell. 
Hence you see that religion is not only a reasonable, but that 
it is infinitely the most reasonable, exercise of the powers of 
an immortal soul. All other obligations are finite ; they bind 
us to duties of time, and place, and circumstances ; this duty 
binds us always and every where, and the results that issue 
from it transcend all finite conception. 

What, then, must be the condition of the man who believes 
in the existence of such a God, and yet suffers not this belief 
to exert any practical influence upon his conduct ? He believes 
that he is dependent, and God all-powerful, and he acts as 
though God were powerless, and himself omnipotent. He 
believes himself to be ignorant, and God omniscient ; he acts 
as though he were all-wise, and God incapable of knowledge. 
He believes that God beholds the inmost recesses of every 
spirit ; and yet he acts as though he could conceal even the 
deeds of noonday from his all-seeing observation. He be- 
lieves that God is a being of all-consuming holiness ; and he 
acts as though the Eternal might be made his coadjutor in 
wickedness. He believes that every secret thing will be 
brought into judgment, and that the consequences of every sin 
are solemn bevond the reach of finite conception; and vet he 



'I 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 27 

labors assiduously to treasure up wrath against the day of 
wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. lie 
believes himself under infinite obligations to reverence and 
love his Father who is in heaven ; and yet he says to the Most 
High, Depart from me ; I desire not a knowledge of thy ways. 
He knows that the pleasures of sin are unsatisfactory and 
degrading, polluted and polluting ; and yet, for the most 
insignificant of them all, he barters away the precious hope 
of gloiy, honor, and immortality. I ask, then, What folly can 
be compared with the folly of him who believes that all this is 
true, and then acts as though all of it were false ? Language 
has no epithet which can adequately designate the madness of 
him who affirms the existence of the Deity, and yet lives 
without God in the world. 

But now, turning from this general view of the subject, 
allow me to bring it at once to a personal application. Are 
there not among us this afternoon many young men whose 
lives have presented a practical illustration of this very folly ? 
You all believe in the existence of God precisely as I have 
endeavored to set it before yon. It is a belief from which you 
cannot escape, for it is interwoven with your intellectual and 
moral nature. In the moment of sinful excitement, tormented 
by the struggle between your passions and your conscience, 
you may wish there were no God ; but it is not in your power 
to believe it. You know that, if God exists, his attributes are 
such as I have attempted to indicate ; and yet I fear that many 
of you are living the life of the practical atheist. 

While, however, I say this, I do not think harshly of you. 
Far be it from me to accuse you either wrongfully or unkindly. 
That we may bring this subject to a definite issue, let me 
suggest a few inquiries which every one may answer for 
himself in the solitude of his own bosom. Every one may 
thus decide the question whether the sin of practical atheism 
does not lie upon his conscience. 

It will be remembered that I address you as believers in the 
existence and attributes of God, and the solemn consequences 



28 PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 

which result from this infinitely important truth. I would then 
inquire, Is there not in this assembly one, at least, who fre- 
quently passes days, and weeks, and months, without ever 
devoutly thinking of his God and his Redeemer ; na , by 
whose lips the name of God is never pronounced, unless it be 
to point a jest or give emphasis to an assertion ? This young 
man surely is a practical atheist. Is there not another, who, at 
the transient solicitation of passion, or even from the dread of 
being considered precise, will do, and who is forming the habit of 
doing, that which he knows the eternal God to have forbidden ? 
This young man is a practical atheist. Is there not one who left 
the home of his parents rich in all the instructions which piety 
could impart, and resolved that, in the new circumstances in 
which he was to be placed, he would seek first of all the favor 
of God, who is already living in the daily neglect of his soul's 
salvation, and on whom every religious truth is rapidly losing 
its wonted effect ? This young man is a practical atheist. Is 
there not another, who professes himself a disciple of Christ, 
who has felt the powers of the world to come, and been, as he 
supposed, a partaker of the Holy Ghost, who has long since 
forgotten to bow the knee in prayer, who seeks neither the 
blessing of God upon his labors nor the pardon of God foi his 
transgressions, who is fast forgetting his religious impressions 
and becoming recreant to his most solemn vows ? This young 
man is a practical atheist. In a word, whoever there may be 
among us, who is living without respect to his obligations to his 
Creator and Redeemer, who is not, by patient continuance in 
well-doing, seeking for glory, honor, and immortality, what- 
ever be his profession, he is a practical atheist. 

Whence has arisen this atheism in the intelligent, responsi- 
ble, and highly-favored creatures of God ? How is it that 
thinking beings should deny the existence of their Maker, and 
that immortal and accountable spirits, convinced of the reality 
of his existence and attributes, should act as though these 
truths were a fiction of the imagination ? To this question. I 
think but one answer can be given, and it is found in the 



PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 29 

words of the apostle Paul — Because they did not like to 
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over. It is 
because we do not love the moral attributes of God that we 
first refuse submission to his authority, and then either deny 
his existence or say unto him, Depart from us, for we desire 
not a knowledge of thy ways. Thus, as in other cases, we 
yield obedience to our passions rather than to our reason and 
our conscience, and testify to the truth of the assertion of holy 
writ — The carnal mind is enmity against God. Is not this true 
of every one of us who is living without God in the world ? 
Would you not think of God if you loved him ? Would you 
not obey him if you loved him ? Retire within your own 
bosoms, and let each one decide for himself whether these 
things be so. 

And, if this be so, whither, I pray you, doth it tend, and 
what must be the end thereof? When you put aside this 
tabernacle of flesh, how will you stand before God, with the 
temper of fixed enmity to his character unchangeably inter- 
woven with your spiritual nature ? What means do you pos- 
sess for carrying on this warfare ? Can you contend with 
omnipotence ? Can you deceive omniscience ? Can you sus- 
tain yourself under the frown of all-consuming holiness ? Do 
you not perceive that enmity with God involves within itself 
the essential elements of unutterable woe ? 

What, then, remains for us but eternal death, unless our 
spiritual nature be transformed from enmity to love ? Ye must 
be born again, is the dictate of reason as well as revelation. 
We are thus shut up unto the faith. We are, however, still in 
a state of probation. God, in the gospel of his Son, is offer- 
ing to us reconciliation. I will, saith he, take from you the 
heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. To him, then, 
let us all approach in the temper of humble penitence and 
filial affection. Great as are our offences, our Father who is 
in heaven does not desire our destruction. He is not willing 
that one of us should perish. He has exalted his well-beloved 
Son as a Prince and a Savior to grant to every one of us 
3* 



30 PRACTICAL ATHEISM. 

repentance and remission of sins. Pardon and eternal life are 
freely offered to us in the gospel. Look unto me, saith the 
Lord, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, 
and there is none else. Let us, then, hearken to his merciful 
invitation, and let us do it now. Why should we continue to 
grieve him by our rebellion? Why should we harden our 
hearts against all the entreaties of redeeming love ? Let us. 
then, now give to him our hearts, for now is the accepted 
time, now is the day of salvation. 



THE MORAL CHARACTER OE MAN. 
LOYE TO GOD. 



" For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ' 

Romans in. 23. 

"I KNOW YOU, THAT YE HAVE NOT THE LOVE OF GOD IN YOTJ." 

John v. 42. 



In a preceding discourse, I had occasion to allude to the 
moral attributes of God. I then stated that reason and revela- 
tion unite in ascribing to the Deity almighty power, omniscient 
wisdom, spotless holiness, and infinite love. We cannot escape 
from the conviction that such a Being presides over the des- 
tinies of the universe, and that he is and ever must be inti- 
mately present to every one of us. 

When we speak of the attributes of God, we always conceive 
of them as ever-acting energies, as the principles by which all 
his acts are, from necessity, governed. When we speak of his 
almighty power, we mean that he is ever acting, and when we 
speak of his omniscient wisdom, we mean that he is always 
directing. And, more than this, when we conceive of his 
moral perfections, we always suppose that his power and wis- 
dom are governed by justice, and holiness, and love ; that he 
is every where throughout the universe, rewarding virtue and 
punishing vice, and that he must, from the necessity of his 
nature, continue to do so forever. Thus the very concep- 
tion of the character of the Deity involves the conception of 
an all- wise, all-powerful, and all-holy government, to which 



32 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

every moral creature is, from the conditions of his being, 
responsible. 

If we be the moral creatures of God, it is then a matter of 
great consequence to us to ascertain the relation in which we 
stand to such a government. Are our desires in harmony with 
the laws by which we are encompassed ? Is our character 
such, that, in conformity with the essential elements of his 
nature, God can make us happy ? We are moral, voluntary 
agents ; we can never take pleasure in any obedience, unless 
we obey from love. Do we then love the 'objects which God 
loves ? do we hate the things that he hates ? and, above all, 
do we love our Father in heaven, from whom comes to us 
eveiy good and perfect gift ? In a word, it is most reasonable 
to inquire whether or not our moral nature is in harmony with 
that of the Deity, for, if it be not, we must at last be miserable. 

And these questions derive additional interest from the fact, 
that the present is with us a state of probation, and that it is 
the only probation which will ever be allotted to us. Every 
action is connected with consequences which attach to us for- 
ever. Every action is forming in us the habit of love or of 
enmity to our Creator. And besides, this being a state of pro- 
bation, it is also a state of change. We may here prepare 
ourselves for either happiness or misery, by the formation of a 
moral character, and we may here reform our character, if we 
find that by any means whatever it has lapsed into sin. From 
all these considerations, it will, I think, be manifest, that the 
question, What is the moral character of the human race ? is 
one of the greatest practical importance. Each one of us is an 
individual of that race, and is distinctly marked with the essen- 
tial moral lineaments by which it is distinguished. Let us, 
then, candidly, and yet solemnly, inquire, what is the truth on 
this subject. 

In considering the moral character of man, it is important to 
remark, in the first place, that there are two classes of beings 
to whom we stand in moral relations. These are our fellow- 
men and our Creator. It cannot for a moment be doubted 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 33 

that, in respect to both of these, we are under obligations to 
some courses of conduct in preference to others. Every one 
knows the difference between justice and injustice, truth and 
falsehood, gratitude and ingratitude in our dealings with our fel- 
low-men ; and that we are morally obliged to cherish the one class 
of affections and to eradicate the other. It is yet more evident 
that we must be under obligations greater than we can con- 
ceive, to exercise suitable affections towards our Father in 
heaven. If this be so, it will follow by necessity, that our moral 
character is to be determined by the manner in which these 
obligations are fulfilled. He who fulfils them is deserving of 
praise. He who fails to fulfil them is deserving of blame : 
how much more, he who cherishes moral dispositions to which 
they are directly opposed ! 

In order, then, to ascertain the moral character of man, it is 
essential to ascertain what are the moral dispositions which arc 
required of him by his Creator. This is readily learned from 
the volume of inspiration. The moral law, under which we ars 
created, is expressed in these words : Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. 
To this rule, as soon as it is conceived, our conscience responds. 
Our whole moral nature bears testimony to its rectitude. No 
one can either pretend that it is unjust, or offer any other as a 
substitute for it, without involving himself in absurdity. This 
rule, then, being once admitted, we are provided with a criterion 
by which the moral character of man may be estimated. If it 
be found that men do love God with all their hearts, and their 
neighbor as themselves, then is their moral character perfect, 
and they may justly claim the reward of innocence. If, on the 
contrary, it be found that these affections are either imperfect 
or absolutely wanting, then must we abandon all pretensions 
to innocence, and we are exposed to the desert of wrong-doing. 

It would be easy, in examining this subject, to spread before 
you the opinions of men, in all ages, who have reflected upon 
the moral character of our race. I might multiply quotations 
without number, from poets, satirists, and philosophers, to 



34 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

whose decisions, in all that concerns human nature, we are 
accustomed to yield the profoundest deference. These all 
unite in affirming that man is, in a great degree, ignorant of 
his duty, both to God and man; and that, when his duty is 
perceived, he is by no means inclined to perform it. I might 
also refer to the universal consciousness of guilt which pervades 
our race, and its natural consequence, the dread of futurity, 
and the fear of retribution, as evidences that our own con- 
sciences testify to the fact of our guiltiness. I might review 
the history of our race from the beginning, and point you to 
the instances of cruelty, oppression, treachery, and impiety, 
with which every page is filled, as illustrations of the moral 
bias of our nature. I might examine the systems of law which 
have been enacted in all nations, and of which the sole object 
is to defend the weak against the unhallowed aggressions of 
the mighty. But all these must be passed by for the present. 
They may seem too general and indefinite for the purposes of 
conviction, and moreover they all fail to teach us the origin 
from which all these evils emanate. Let us, then, turn from 
these human authorities, and inquire for the teachings of the 
Scriptures upon this subject. If God himself has revealed to 
us the moral character of man, we have the means of arriving 
at the truth with absolute certainty. 

In appealing to the Scriptures in order to ascertain the moral, 
character of man, you will, I trust, believe me, when I say, that 
I have no desire to teach you the doctrine of any particular 
sect. We desire to teach not what the sects have inculcated, 
but what the Bible reveals. Nor shall I attempt to illustrate or 
confirm the views of any class of theologians ; this they are 
abundantly able to do for themselves. The Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments are our ultimate and only authority in 
all questions touching our moral relations to God. If we can 
ascertain what they teach us, we shall arrive at pure truth. If 
we present to you the dogmas of men, we shall at best set 
before you the truth, commingled with the results of human 
infirmity and error. 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 35 

Nor have I the least design to defend the terms used by 
many writers on this subject. We desire to deal not with 
names, but with things ; not with words, but with matters of 
fact. It has, sometimes, for instance, been the custom to 
designate the moral corruption of man by the term " total 
depravity." Definitions, I know, may be given of this phrase 
which would render it not inconsistent with what I suppose to 
be the revealed truth ; still I think that this truth might be 
expressed by more fitly chosen words. When we modify an 
adjective by the epithet " total," we mean, I think, to declare 
that the quality pervades the subject without admixture or alle- 
viation. That thing is not totally black which presents any inter- 
mingling of colors. If depraved mean sinful, totally depraved 
would seem to mean sinful in such a sense as to exclude the 
existence of virtue. Now, I do not perceive that such a 
character is ascribed to man in the Scriptures. If, on the 
other hand, this expression indicates that though there may be 
virtue in human action irrespective of divine grace, yet that in 
no case it fulfils the conditions of the laws of God, this may 
be true, but the truth might, as I think, be expressed by more 
appropriate terms. 

Ruined and helpless as the moral condition of man is repre- 
sented to be in the Scriptures, they do not assert that there is 
in his nature none of the elements of goodness. So far as 
we can discover, they nowhere assert that filial or parental 
affection, patriotism, generosity, or benevolence, are either 
vicious, or to be classed with the instinctive and therefore 
morally neutral impulses of brutes. The principles of ethics 
would teach us that such a view was erroneous. The inten- 
tional fulfilment of a moral obligation must, as it seems to me, 
be virtuous. It may not be as virtuous as it ought to be. It 
may be wanting in some of the elements necessary to a per- 
fect moral action, and, therefore, it may come short of the 
praise of God. So far, however, as it is the intentional 
fulfilment of a moral obligation, it is virtuous, and I think that all 
men correctly honor it as such. There are surely gradations 



LOVE TO GOD. 

in moral character irrespective of the transforming influences 
of the grace of God. When the young ruler came to inquire 
of Christ, there was much that was wanting to render him 
acceptable to God ; yet the Savior looked upon him and loved 
him. Our Lord clearly beheld in him a character very differ- 
ent from that of the scribes and Pharisees who surrounded 
him. 

Let us, then, while we attempt to examine this subject, 
endeavor to cast aside our prejudices, and inquire for the sim- 
ple truth. Let us deal with facts, instead of words. On the 
one hand, let not our natural indisposition to find ourselves in 
the wrong render us blind to our real condition ; and, on the 
other hand, let not our adherence to preconceived opinions 
lead us to deny what is obvious to our own observation. It 
becomes us to allow to human nature all that it can reasonably 
claim, and, at the same time, to state the facts concerning it 
precisely as they exist. No benefit can ever arise from ad- 
herence to error, under what guise soever it may be concealed. 

1 have already remarked that the standard by which the 
moral character of man is to be judged is the law, Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as 
thyself. He who obeys this rule is innocent ; his moral char- 
acter is perfect ; he will receive praise from God. He who 
fails to obey it is imperfect, sinful, and is shut out from all 
claim to justification on the ground of the law. We shall 
proceed, on this occasion, to examine the declarations of revela- 
tion respecting the character of man, in view of the first part of 
the precept, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. 

From the multitude of passages that might be offered to 
illustrate this subject, I have chosen the two which form the 
text of this discourse, as among the most definite and explicit. 
The apostle declares that all men, the whole human race, 
have sinned ; and, if we examine the context, we shall see 
that he means also to affirm they are sinners. He adds, as a 
consequence of this, they have come short of the glory of God. 
" Glory," in this place, means " praise," the praise of well- 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 37 

doing. " To come short of" is to fail of obtaining. The 
text, then, asserts that all men, by sinning, have failed to ob- 
tain the divine favor. The truth therefore, revealed, is this : God 
has given us a perfect rule of conduct ; we have not obeyed 
it, and hence we have lost all claim to his approbation. That 
this is his meaning is evident from the conclusion which he 
draws from these premises ; " therefore, by the deeds of the 
law can no flesh be justified. ,, 

The words of our Savior also affirm distinctly what is our 
moral character in respect to our obligations to God. " I know 
you," said he, " that ye have not the love of God in you." That 
this assertion was not intended to refer exclusively to his imme- 
diate hearers, but that it is universally true, is evident from his 
declaration on another occasion. u This is the condemnation," 
said he, " that light is come into the world, and men loved dark- 
ness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." 

In attempting to illustrate this doctrine, I remark, first, that 
the Scriptures always proceed upon the admission that the 
great moral relation of man — that which involves and infinitely 
transcends every other — is his relation to his Creator. Tn com- 
parison with this, every other dwindles into insignificance. All 
others, in comparison with it, are as finite to infinite, as time to 
eternity. The love of God throughout the moral universe is 
the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, of all essen- 
tial and permanent goodness. The presence or the absence 
of this attribute constitutes the difference in this world between 
the saint and the sinner, and in the unseen world that between 
an angel and a demon. All other relations change, and the 
obligations and duties thence arising change with them ; this 
relation alone is changeless and immutable as the throne of the 
eternal. God cannot be otherwise than he is, and hence the 
duty to love him supremely must be unalterable. From this 
affection all essential goodness, throughout the universe, ema- 
nates, and by this alone is it sustained and invigorated. This 
alone would create universal love ; withdraw it, and every 
passion would tend to universal hatred. Without it, the 
4 



38 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

creature is fallen, shut out from the companionship of the holy, 
delivered over to the blindness of his own ignorance and the 
turbulence of his unrestrained desires. Like the principle of 
gravitation in the material world, while it exists in its native 
energy, the mightiest planet in its remotest orbit performs with 
unerring rectitude its appointed revolution, whilst the veriest 
mote that floats in the sunbeam finds unbidden its appropriate 
place. Abolish it, and suns, and stars, and planets, would rush 
in wild confusion through the abyss ; ancf though here and 
there a crystal or a gem might for a while retain its fair pro- 
portions, yet all things would be rapidly crumbling into void 
and formless chaos. 

Now, the Bible charges it upon man, with the most emphatic 
precision, that of this element — the supreme love to God — he is 
utterly and entirely destitute. The messages of the prophets 
to the Jews repeated in every form this appalling announce- 
ment. " They say unto God," saith Job, " Depart from us, for 
we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." " A son honoreth his 
father, and a servant his master ; if, then, I be a father, where 
is my honor ? and if I be a master, where is my fear ? saith the 
Lord of hosts." Lest, however, it should be said that these 
expressions are the figurative language of poetry, our Lord, in 
the words of the text, in terms that cannot be misunderstood, 
declares, with an emphasis that cannot be mistaken, " I know 
you, that ye have not the love of God in you." 

Here, however, a distinction may be taken. It is not charged 
upon man, that he may not love his own conceptions of the 
Deity. It is not said that a Greek or Roman might not have 
loved the fabulous creations of his own mythology, if their 
attributes were in harmony with the tendencies of his own 
corrupted nature. The text simply affirms of both Jew and 
Gentile, that they had no love for the holy God whom the 
Messiah came more perfectly to reveal. Nor would the 
Scriptures deny that we, at the present day, might love the 
natural attributes of the true God. We may admire a poetical 
conception of the Creator, as the Author of all that is sublime 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 39 

and beautiful, the God of sunshine and of storms, of spring- 
time and of autumn, " who bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his sea- 
sons, and guideth Arcturus and his sons," while we have no one 
proper affection towards the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Our Lord addresses us not as tasteful but as moral 
creatures ; not as admirers of the beautiful, but as responsible 
agents, every one of whom must give account of himself unto 
God. It is with reference to the moral attributes of the Most 
High, his spotless holiness, his unchanging truth, his boundless 
love, and his paternal goodness, that oar Savior speaks, when 
he declares, " I know you, that ye have not the love of God 
in you." 

2. But the Scriptures go further than this. It is evident that, 
under the present constitution, it is the will of our Creator 
that we should derive happiness from a great variety of exter- 
nal objects. Things sensual, social, and moral, things of time 
and of eternity, are designed to furnish for us sources of pleas- 
ure as well as impulses to action. So long as these were en- 
joyed within proper limits, and in due subordination to the will 
of the Creator, the happiness of man was perfect and his virtue 
untarnished. The love of God was the all-controlling principle 
of his action, and to this affection every other rendered homage. 
But when the love of God was banished from his bosom, the love 
of some created object immediately occupied its place. The re- 
straining powers of his moral affection being removed, his affec- 
tions were surrendered to the things that perish. Hence we be- 
came sensual, carnal, having not the spirit. We obey the desires 
of the flesh, without regard to the will of God. We seek the pres- 
ent, regardless of the future. We ask, " Who will show us any 
good ? " instead of asking what is right and well-pleasing to our 
Father who is in heaven. Thus was it in the garden of Eden. 
God had said of the tree of knowledge, " Thou shalt not eat of it 
nor touch it." But when the woman saw that the tree was good 
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be 
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did 
eat." " Thus saiththe Lord by the prophet Jeremiah, Be aston- 



40 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

ishecl, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid ; be very 
desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two 
great evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living 
waters, and have hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns, 
which can hold no water." 

Hence, as man obeys his appetites in the place of God, the 
Bible, charges upon us universal sinfulness. We are told not 
only that the love of God is not in us, but that we practically 
disobey him. " "When God looked down upon the children of 
men to see if there were any that did good, they had all gone out 
of the way, they had all together become sinful." The apostle 
Paul, in treating upon this subject, declares concerning Jew and 
Gentile, — that is, the whole human race, — " There is none 
righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there 
is none that secketh after God, there is none that doeth good, 
no, not one." After stating in detail the various forms of this 
sinfulness, he concludes as follows : " Now we know that what- 
soever the law saith, it saith to those that are under the law, 
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become 
guilty before God." The love of God being withdrawn, no 
action can proceed from this motive, but all must proceed from 
motives sensual and earthly. Or, if we act from higher and 
more worthy, as, for instance, from social motives, or the 
dictates of moral obligation to man, the love of God being 
absent, we are shut out from communion with the Holy One, 
and come short of the praise of God. 

3. Let us proceed to another consideration. While this 
change has taken place in man, the law of God has remained 
unaltered. The command, holy, and just, and good, continues 
as at the beginning : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart." Man has fixed his affections on the creature, instead 
of the Creator, and finds his only happiness in enjoyments 
which God has forbidden. The creature is thus placed in 
direct opposition to the Creator, and hence there arises in his 
bosom a dislike to God and the government of God. Man 
does not love the divine omniscience, because it looks into the 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 41 

secret recesses of his heart. He does not love the divine holi- 
ness, because it is opposed to the courses which he chooses to 
pursue. He does not love the divine justice, because it will 
assuredly recompense to every man the due reward of all his 
deeds. He does not love the divine goodness, because it will 
make only the holy, obedient, and penitent happy. We can 
easily conceive what must be the result of so universal an 
opposition — an opposition that encompasses us every where 
and at all times, and which must reveal itself without a cover- 
ing in the world of truth, to which we are tending. 

This result must be hostility. We cannot but dislike a 
power which is every where thwarting our plans and uttering 
its solemn rebuke at the moment when we are revelling in our 
choicest gratifications. Hence the Scriptures charge upon us 
not only dislike, but even enmity to God. Our first parents 
fled from the presence of God, to hide themselves among the 
trees of the garden. The apostle Paul declares that men do 
not like to retain God in their knowledge, and that so intense 
is this dislike, that they shut out the idea of the true God, by 
substituting in his place the most degrading objects of idolatry. 
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and 
changed the glorious and incorruptible' God into an image 
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, 
and creeping things." Thus also saith he in another place, 
" The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject 
to the law of God, neither indeed can be ; " that is, so long as a 
man is carnal, determined to derive his happiness from sources 
forbidden by his Creator, he must from necessity be at enmity 
with God. Nor is this all. The Scriptures teach us that this 
enmity is capable of resisting the strongest conviction of the 
understanding. Thus saith the Savior : " Light has come into 
the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, 
because their deeds are evil." Nay, more, this enmity is un- 
affected by the longest experience of the goodness of God. 
" Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, 
and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God 
4* 



42 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 



leadeth thee to repentance ? " But, above all, the inflexible 
nature of this hostility has been illustrated in the reception 
which has been given to the message of mercy by Jesus Christ. 
In the gospel, God draws near, beseeching us to be reconciled 
to him ; but his offer is universally rejected. Men, with one 
consent, begin to make excuse. They deliberately choose to 
remain at enmity with him, rather than to confess their sins, 
renounce their idols, and be received as his children, through 
faith in his well-beloved Son. 

Here, however, let it be observed, I do not assert that this 
enmity against God is a sentiment of which either you or other 
men are of necessity conscious. You may, on the contrary, 
be shocked when you hear that the Scriptures charge such a 
degree of wickedness upon us. You will then naturally ask, 
" How can this enmity exist without manifesting itself to our 
consciousness ? " The answer, I think, is obvious. We cherish 
affections directly opposed to the law, and at variance with the 
character of God ; but we have learned so habitually to banish 
the thought of God from our minds, that the hostility which 
really exists does not become a matter of reflection. We 
shut out the light, and choose to abide in darkness, and are 
at ease ; but this by no means proves that we shall remain at 
ease when the light of day shall burst upon our sin-distempered 
vision. The Scriptures, when treating on this subject, always 
speak of our moral condition as it actually is, and as it must of 
necessity manifest itself, whenever the proper opportunity shall 
arrive. We cherish feelings directly at variance with the holy 
government of God ; but he reveals himself to us at present, not 
as a God doing justice, but as a God desiring to be reconciled. 
He is long suffering, and not willing that any should perish. 
He is striving by his goodness to lead us to repentance. But 
this cannot continue always. He must render to every man 
according to his deeds. When the veil of flesh shall be re- 
moved, the full blaze of all his perfections must burst upon us, 
and then must the opposition of our character to his, reveal 
itself in all its intensity. 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 43 

Once more, and I have done. The Scriptures teach us that, 
by steadfast continuance in sin, we are forming for ourselves a 
fixed and unalterable character. It is the law of habit, that, 
whether we will or will not, the frequent repetition of an act 
produces upon us a permanent effect, creates a stronger and 
stronger tendency to this act, and renders a change of charac- 
ter more and more difficult, and, at last, practically impossible. 
Such is the effect of the indulgence in sin. That it should be 
so is according to all the analogies of our probationary state. 
That this effect has been produced upon us, every one may 
learn from his own experience. 

I might easily refer to various passages of Scripture in which 
this truth is clearly set forth. Thus saith the prophet, " Can 
the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? 
Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." 
This whole subject is, however, set forth by the apostle Paul in 
the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, with a graph- 
ic power, which leaves no room for misconception. He had 
before shown that we are all sinners, and hence under con- 
demnation for our past offences. He here teaches that, by 
sin, our moral nature is so disordered, that we are moreover 
helpless in our iniquity. In illustrating this truth, he uses the 
first person, for the purpose of designating the universal con- 
dition of man. " We know," saith he, " that the law is spiritual ; 
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow 
not, for what I would, that I do not, but what I hate, that I do. 
I find, then, a law that when I would do good, evil is present 
with me. I delight in the law of God after the inward man ; 
but I find another law in my members, warring against the law 
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin 
in my members. O wretched man that I am ! who shall 
deliver me from the body of this death ? " In such language as 
this does he describe the internal warfare between the con- 
science and the passions, and the constant failure of man to 
live in obedience to the law which he acknowledges to be 
right. Such, then, is the condition in which we find ourselves 



44 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

after the habit of sin has been formed. We are not only 
guilty, but helplessly guilty. Hence, by the deeds of the law 
can no man be justified. 

We learn from this discussion what is briefly the charge 
which the Scriptures bring against man, so far as his moral 
relations to God are concerned. They declare that he is 
destitute of love to God ; that his affections are given to things 
which God. has forbidden, or in degrees that he has forbidden ; 
hence, that there has arisen in the bosom of man a sentiment 
of hostility to his Maker; and lastly, that, by a course of cease- 
less transgression, this hostility has become the fixed habit of 
his soul. If such be the facts, we must perceive that every 
act of man must come short of the praise of God. God de- 
mands and deserves our supreme affection. Every one of our 
actions is destitute of this element ; nay, more, it acknowl- 
edges the supremacy of the passions to the conscience, and of 
the creature to the Creator. Thus saith the text, " All have 
sinned and come short of the praise of God." 

If this be so, we must be aware that we can present no claim 
of innocence, on the ground that there yet may be discovered 
some traces of virtue in man when his relations to his fellows 
alone are concerned. That such virtues do exist in different 
degrees among us, is not denied. The Scriptures do not deny 
it. But this admission in no way invalidates the truth of the 
doctrine in question. The charge in the text has respect to 
our relations to God. But it would be easy to show that as 
our duty to God is involved in every action of our lives, the 
action, how right soever in other respects, yet wanting in this 
essential element, is eminently faulty. No one of us can 
therefore conclude that his life is right in the sight of God on 
account of the existence in his character of much that is lovely, 
and excellent, and of good report, in his relations to his fellow- 
men. 

Again : No one of us is warranted in the belief that he loves 
God because he is not conscious of the sentiment of hostility 
towards him. Our Father in heaven is not satisfied with this 






MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 45 

negative moral condition, were such a condition possible, in 
his children here on earth. His command, the obedience to 
which is essential to our happiness both here and hereafter, is, 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ; " and this 
command cannot surely be obeyed by merely refraining from 
hating him. But can we be convinced that we are entitled to 
the praise of even this negative virtue ? Is it not the fact that 
we have no consciousness of hostility to God because we really 
think nothing about him ? " The wicked," saith the Psalmist, 
" through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after 
God ; God is not in all his thoughts." We cannot indulge in 
hostility to a nonentity ; and what is not in all our thoughts 
is truly a nonentity to us. But if we could conceive of the 
character of God as it really exists, and behold him scru- 
tinizing eveiy thought, registering every word, and observing 
eveiy action, bringing eveiy secret thing into judgment, and 
justly offended at every thing unholy, is it at all certain that 
we would not instantly feel that God and ourselves were at 
irreconcilable variance ? 

But we shall ail very soon behold God as he actually is. 
When we lay aside this earthly tabernacle, our spirits will be 
at once in the presence of the omnipresent Spirit. Then we 
ourselves, as well as all things around us, will appear as they 
are. What then must be our condition, if we find ourselves 
destitute of love to God, hostile to all his perfections, and by 
our own act fixed in this condition forever ? God is immu- 
table. We have hardened ourselves in unchangeable oppo- 
sition to his character and law. What result can possibly 
ensue but eternal banishment from his presence ? And who 
could be so appropriate associates for us as those whose moral 
feelings harmonize with our own ? Our own consciences must, 
approve of the sentence by which we are consigned to the 
dwelling-place of those who kept not their first estate. What 
can we say when he shall punish us ? 

If these things be so, I am sure that every one of us must 
be convinced of the necessity of a radical moral change in the 



46 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

character of man before he can meet God and be at peace. 
Reason reechoes the saying of the Messiah — "Unless a man 
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Whatever, 
then, may be our hopes, unless we have been renewed in the 
spirit of our mind, we are still enemies to God by wicked 
works. Are we willing to cherish this enmity, and reap its 
results forever? No one would dare to choose for himself 
such a doom. Let us, then, escape it by penitence and faith 
now, while change is possible. Penitence, even were it possi- 
ble beyond the grave, would there avail us nothing. " Let, 
then, the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts, and turn unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon 
him, and unto our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 



THE MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 
IOVE TO GOD. 



"Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
God gave them over to a reprobate mind." 

Romans i. 28. 

In the preceding discourse, I attempted to exhibit the 
teaching of the Scriptures in respect to the moral character 
of man. I suppose that the Bible charges us with being desti- 
tute of love to God, alienated hi our affections from him, and 
enemies to him by wicked works ; it also declares that we are 
steadily pursuing a course which must render these moral dis- 
positions fixed and unalterable so long as we exist. I propose, 
on the present occasion, to pursue this subject somewhat 
further, and to show that these declarations of the word of God 
are perfectly in accordance with the facts that have been dis- 
closed in the history of our race. 

That man at first was created in his present moral condition 
has not generally been deemed probable. It seems scarcely 
credible that a holy and most merciful God would have made 
originally a creature, and specially a probationary creature, 
with such a proneness to evil as man has every where dis- 
played. Hence the opinion that there has come over our 
race some great moral change, has been almost universal. 
The classical mythology represented the progenitors of our 
race as guileless, virtuous, and pious, the inhabitants of a 
world where the curse came not, but where all things minis- 
tered to their happiness. Man, however, soon degenerated, 



48 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

The golden age gave place to the age of brass, and this in 
turn to the age of iron ; thorns and thistles mocked the labors 
of man, who had become a sinner ; diseases cut short his 
days ; the box of Pandora was opened, and mourning, lamen- 
tation, and woe became the inheritance of our apostate race. 

This idea, thus dimly shadowed forth in heathen mythology, 
is clearly and definitely presented in the Holy Scriptures. 
They teach us that God created man upright, with moral 
powers holding such a relation to his sensual appetites that he 
was fully prepared to enter upon his probation with every 
prospect of success. " God created man in his own image, in 
che image of God created he him." " And God saw every 
thing that he had made, and behold it was very good." Under 
these circumstances there was nothing to restrict the intercourse 
between the Creator and man, any more than between the 
Creator and any other holy being whom he had made. 
Hence the communion of heaven with earth was free and 
unrestrained. God revealed himself personally to man, made 
known to him his will, and taught him the consequences which 
must result both from obedience and disobedience. Thus we 
learn that, at the beginning, man was well instructed in the 
knowledge of the character and law of his Creator. 

But man, having been created a moral agent, in addition to 
reason and conscience, and appetites and passions, was en- 
dowed with the awful power of will. The motives for his 
conduct having been presented, he was left in absolute free- 
dom to choose between them.* But man, being in honor, 



I made him just and right, 

Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall. 

Such I created all the ethereal powers 

And spirits, both them who stood and them who failed : 

Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell. 

Not free, what proof could they have given sincere 

Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love, 

■Where only, what they needs must do, appeared, 

Not what they would ? What praise could they receive ? 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 49 

abode not. He chose to disobey God, led astray by the 
allurements of sense, and fell from the high dignity in which 
he had been created. Kenouncing his allegiance to God, he 
became of necessity the slave of his passions. The supreme 
affection of man having been withdrawn from God, it was 
bestowed upon the creature. Conscience was dethroned, and 
her sceptre was surrendered to appetite. Yet, though the 
just subordination of his powers among themselves was thus 
overthrown, the powers themselves remained. Neither con- 
science, nor passion, nor reason, nor taste, nor memory, nor 
will, had been annihilated. Sin neither abolished our knowl- 
edge of God, nor our capacity for recognizing his attributes 
as they are displayed in the things that are made. Hence, 
notwithstanding his fall, man was still capable of a true con- 
ception of the character of God, and a clear conviction of the 
obligations by which we are bound to obey him. 

Under these conditions, the results of this early trial of our 
race were abundantly disastrous. The wickedness of man be- 
came so intolerable, that, with the exception of a single family, 
God swept away from the face of the earth its entire popula- 
tion. " God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon 
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his 
heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that 
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at the heart. 
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created 
from the face of the earth." Such was the character and such 
the destiny of the antediluvian fathers of mankind. 

After the race had been thus destroyed by the flood, a 
second parentage was, if I may use the expression, granted to 
mankind, and granted under the most favorable circumstances. 

"What pleasure I from such, obedience paid, 
"When will and reason, (reason also is choice,) 
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled, 
Made passive both, had served necessity, 
Not me ? " 

Paradise Lost, Book III. 98 — 110. 
5 



50 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. And 
Noah walked with God. " Thee have I seen righteous before 
me in this generation." It seems as though God had selected 
the most virtuous man on earth to be the second father of our 
race, in order that our probation might proceed with every 
prospect of success. After the catastrophe, in which the mil- 
lions of his contemporaries were swept away, God revealed 
himself to Noah, and made to him most gracious promises of 
favor and protection. There is reason to believe that, for a 
long period after this event, mankind enjoyed a clear and ex- 
tensive knowledge of the character and law of God ; a knowl- 
edge rendered the more impressive by the recent vindication 
of his justice. We find that the patriarchs, in their extensive 
migrations, met among different nations the devout worshippers 
of the true God. Abraham, the father of the Hebrew com- 
monwealth, paid tithes to Melchizcdek, as to a person more 
pious than himself; and was afterwards rebuked by the right- 
eous king of Gerar for base equivocation. A similar event 
occurred in the history of the patriarch Isaac. Very distinct 
traces of a knowledge of the true God may be discovered 
among the Gentile nations at as late a period as that of the 
entrance of the Jews into the land of Canaan. None of the 
inspired prophets have spoken of the character of the Most 
High in sublimer language, or have been more fearfully im- 
pressed with the vision of his holiness, than Balaam, the mys- 
terious seer of Moab. And even at the present day, as the 
enterprise of our missionary pioneers is discovering new tribes 
of the human family, we occasionally perceive clear indications 
of traditionary knowledge, which could have descended from 
none other than an inspired source. That such is the fact in 
respect to the Karens, a people scattered throughout the jungles 
of Burmah, I fully believe. These ignorant barbarians, desti- 
tute of a priesthood, and without a written language, had 
retained among themselves a collection of moral precepts, 
which for purity and beauty surpass every thing that has come 
down to us from the most refined nations of antiquity ; and 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 5) 

which are intimately allied to the teachings of revelation itself. 
Whether, therefore, we take the Holy Scriptures or profane 
tradition for our authority, we are, I think, justified in believing 
that the race of man commenced the second period of its pro- 
bation with a competent knowledge of the existence, attributes 
and moral requirements of the Creator. 

But, although this knowledge of God remained in the pos- 
session of man, his moral nature continued unchanged. His 
passions were still at war with his conscience, and in every con- 
test they came off victorious. The ever-present idea of a holy 
God gave energy to the moral sense, and rendered its rebukes 
more intensely painful. The man would sin in spite of his 
knowledge, and he suffered at every transgression the pangs 
of remorse. Thus the knowledge of God became a source 
of incessant moral anguish, and it was natural that he should 
endeavor to escape from it. Fie did not like to retain God in 
his knowledge. God, justly indignant at the wickedness of the 
creature, gave him over to a reprobate mind ; that is, he left 
him to his own choices, and suffered him to work out the 
inevitable results of his deliberate transgression. 

The manner in which these results were accomplished may, 
I think, be observed by a reference to the moral history of 
man. 

We have seen that, as long as man yielded himself up to the 
dominion of passion, the knowledge of God must have been 
painful. But his intellectual nature demanded the acknowl- 
edgment of a first cause, while his moral nature required some 
object of veneration. As the idea of the true God had become 
painful, he naturally sought to satisfy these primary wants of his 
spiritual constitution by providing for himself some object of 
veneration, which might be worshipped without giving addi- 
tional power to the stings of conscience. To accomplish this 
has been the object of mankind from the earliest ages to the 
present moment. 

The first, and perhaps the most natural, step in the path of 
moral degradation, was to deify the distinguished dead. While 



0\i MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

living they had conferred benefits on man, and received the 
tribute of his grateful homage. The feelings of the human 

O o o 

heart could not consign them to forgetfulness. If the dead 
existed in another state, they might there exert some power in 
behalf of the living. If to this we add the susceptibility of 
the heart under sorrow, and the disposition to praise when 
applause can awaken no envy, it is not unreasonable to sup- 
pose that the custom of deifying deceased men would become 
extensively prevalent. 

Such, I think, seems to have been the origin of the my- 
thology, both of classic and barbarian antiquity. The original 
deities of heathen idolatry were manifestly, I think, distin- 
guished monarchs or remarkable benefactors. Jupiter, the 
father of the gods, was, as we are told, born in the Island of 
Crete, and the names of his parents are even indicated. Ceres 
was the first instructor of the human race in the arts of agri- 
culture. Vulcan was the discoverer of the uses of iron. The 
same idea may be traced throughout the Egyptian and Hindoo 
mythology. Such were the dii majores, the original deities 
which men first received to a participation in the worship due 
only to Jehovah. 

The same fact is further illustrated by the multiplication of 
demigods which succeeded this first deification. Hercules, 
Castor and Pollux, the Muses, Esculapius, Achilles, and a 
thousand others, were the dii minores, the lesser gods, the 
offspring of a deity and a human being. This parentage 
indicates, I think, the origin of the gods themselves, since 
deified men would naturally be connected by the ordinary 
ties of passion with those from whom they sprang. Hence 
arose the universal disposition to claim consanguinity with the 
gods, until, at last, the relationship became so universal as to 
confer no title to honor. At the time of Alexander the Great, 
these notions had passed into desuetude, and his claims of 
descent from Jupiter were laughed at by his contemporaries. 

Here, however, I think it important to remark, that these 
deities were not originally introduced as substitutes for the true 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 53 

God. They were merely intercessors, mediators, who might 
influence the supreme Divinity to be favorable to us. Some- 
thing approaching nearer to the frailty of humanity seemed a 
more desirable object of worship than the holy God himself. 
Soon, however, this preference gradually excluded God from 
the conception of man, and the deified hero, at first only an 
intercessor, was at length worshipped in the place of the 
supreme Divinity. Still the original conception was not com- 
pletely blotted out, and hence we observe that Jupiter and all 
the gods were governed by an invisible and overruling fate, to 
which they were obliged to yield unquestioning obedience. 
This tendency may, I think, be distinctly observed in all the 
phases of idolatry. 

This was the first step in human degradation ; it was, how- 
ever, a descent from heaven to the abyss. It was exchanging 
the Creator for the creature. It was taking from the object 
of worship all that was peculiar to the Deity, and all that gave 
to our conception of him legitimate authority over the con- 
science. It was removing the incorruptible God from the 
throne of the universe, and substituting in his place a fiction 
of our own imagination, a being like to ourselves, debased by 
sensual appetites, delighting in polluted gratifications, liable to 
sorrow and disappointment, and grieving over misfortune like 
any one of us. 

While, however, I suppose that such was the more common 
manner in which the creature, as an object of worship, was 
substituted for the Creator, I would by no means assert that it 
was universal. I have said that men were deified on account 
of the benefits which they had conferred. The same princi- 
ple would lead to the deification of things as well as persons. 
In this manner every external object that is capable of doing us 
good may become a deity. Such would be the case in sparsely 
settled communities, where the passions of men are less power- 
fully excited, and among an agricultural people, where suc- 
cess in labor depends upon agents which we cannot control 
The Persian object of adoration was the sun or fire, whicl 
5* 



54 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

they believed to be the source of life, both animal and vege- 
table. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as the cause of 
fertility, and, on the same principle, the ichneumon that de- 
stroyed the crocodile, the ox that tilled the land, and at last 
the leek and the onion, which were their favorite articles of 
food. Our aborigines worshipped several animals of the 
chase. And, in general, among idolatrous nations we find 
that animals frequently are held sacred, either on account of 
the benefits which they confer or the injuries which they in- 
flict. It is for this latter reason that many of the inhabitants 
of the islands of the Pacific hold the shark in religious ven- 
eration. 

Let us here pause for a moment, and observe what must 
be the effect produced upon the moral condition of man by 
this substitution of the creature for the Creator. I think it 
evident that the conscience of man can never maintain its 
supremacy over the passions, unless its decisions are en- 
forced by a belief in the existence of such a Deity as the 
Scriptures reveal ; an omnipotent Being, of almighty power, 
boundless goodness, immaculate purity, and inflexible justice. 
Nothing less than this will hold in check the violence of hu- 
man passion, and repress the all-grasping tendency of human 
selfishness. But by this change in the object of worship 
all this restraint is removed, and conscience is left single- 
handed to struggle against the united strength of sensual and 
selfish impulses. I say single-handed, but this does not ad- 
equately express the truth. The unseen powers to which con- 
science looked for aid have more commonly become treach- 
erous friends, who were themselves in league against her. 
The deities above were the patrons of crime and the exem- 
plars of impurity. They, in the hour of trial, took part with 
her adversaries, and hence the triumph of the passions was 
complete. 

But other results flowed from the increased intensity thus 
given to human passion, which rendered the moral degra- 
dation of man yet more hopeless. When the passions are 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. OO 

vehemently excited, desire for gratification absorbs every other 
idea. At such a moment man specially feels his own impo- 
tence, and perceives that the future is wholly beyond his 
control. After having done his utmost to command success, 
he naturally looks upward to some higher power to render 
the means which he has chosen effectual. The warrior, on 
the eve of a battle, knows that the victory which shall lead to 
dominion cannot be rendered certain either by the penetra- 
tion of his own sagacity or the prowess of his own arm. Af- 
ter his last order has been issued, he is conscious that the 
result is in the hands of some power higher than himself. 
His mind naturally turns to some being whose aid he may 
invoke in directing, for his advantage, the unseen events of 
the morrow. His soul, agitated by contending emotions, 
turns to some one of the conceptions with which his im . 
agination is filled, and to it he commends himself and his 
fortunes. Should he prove victorious, the object of his wor- 
ship will 'henceforth be to him and to his army the god of 
war. In the same manner the glutton and the drunkard would 
wish for a deity who might mitigate the paroxysm of fever 
or avert the stroke of apoplexy. The miser, devising schemes 
of unrighteous gain, would need a deity to grant him success, 
and the robber would sacrifice to a god before he proceeded 
on his errand of burglary. 

You see thus that man, having assumed to himself the 
power of creating gods, would naturally multiply them al- 
most without number. No passion can be conceived of, so 
base that it did not desire a deity whose aid it might invoke ; 
and its desire was rarely for a long time unsatisfied. Profli- 
gacy, ambition, and sensuality in every form, readily created 
deities, who were their especial patrons. Hence vice appeared 
on earth armed with the authority of the Divinity. Yet even 
here the voice of conscience was not altogether silent. There 
would yet remain some to whom these excesses would appear 
morally odious. Even licentious men, when the storm of 
passion had subsided, might doubt whether a life of violence 



56 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

and sensuality must not meet its appropriate rewaid. It was 
necessary to advance a step farther, and silence the moni- 
tions of the moral sense, by bringing them into harmony with 
the will of the deities. When this was done, the reign of 
passion must be absolute. 

This step was easily taken. If the gods above presided 
over the human passions, and taught men the means by which 
they could be gratified, the acts which passion dictated would 
of course be their most acceptable worship. As there was 
a god devoted to every passion, it only remained to ordain 
for each such rites as were in accordance with his attributes. 
Thus the veneration for the gods, which conscience itself 
teaches, would be the very means of sanctioning the most 
shocking immoralities. Conscience and passion would hence- 
forth teach the same lesson, and no obstacle would exist to 
the universal indulgence in unblushing licentiousness. To 
aid in working out this result, temples were erected without 
number to every conceivable divinity, and to preside over 
the rites of each, a numerous and well-fed priesthood was 
appointed. The most exquisite artistical skill was lavishly 
employed to surround the worship of sensuality with the most 
attractive charms. Shrines, the admiration of all succeed- 
ing ages, crowned every hill-top and adorned every grove. 
Statuary of exquisite beauty realized in marble the most 
revolting conceptions. Every grotto and fountain acknowl- 
edged its tutelary divinity, and sent forth its priests to sum- 
mon the people to its idolatrous rites. The slavery of man 
to the senses and the passions was fast rivetted upon him, as 
it seemed, forever. The secret chamber and the solemn tem- 
ple, the distant grove and the thickly-peopled city, resounded 
with nothing but the struggle for mastery and the revel of 
licentiousness. Men did not like to retain God in their knowl- 
edge, and God gave them over to a reprobate mind. 

These remarks, as you perceive, have been made with 
special reference to the nations of classic antiquity. But the 
same principles have wrought out the same results, wherever 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 57 

the progress of civilization has cherished their natural devel- 
opment. This fact is illustrated, for instance, in the history 
of the Hindoo mythology. The early divinities of the religion 
of Brama were, as I have suggested, deified men. These* 
in the process of time, were greatly multiplied. Next were 
added gods to preside over the human passions. Worship 
was made to conform to the character of the deity to whom 
it was offered, until, at the present time, there is not a crime 
so nefarious that you may not commit it as an act of devo- 
tion to some one of their millions of deities. Hence the moral 
character of the people is, in many respects, intimately 
allied to that of Greece and Rome at the period of their deep- 
est degradation. The modern traveller cannot describe to us 
the scenes depicted on the walls of Herculaneum and Pom- 
peii ; and the missionary returning from Bengal refuses to 
utter the abominations that are witnessed by assembled thou- 
sands as the most acceptable sacrifice to the gods, on the 
days of their solemn devotion. 

Now, if man had possessed no other knowledge of God than 
that derived from tradition, this downward tendency in our 
race would surely have seemed remarkable. We might have 
expected that intelligent and moral creatures would have cher- 
ished a knowledge of their Creator as a most invaluable treas- 
ure, and transmitted it unimpaired from generation to genera- 
tion. But, during all this period, " God did not leave himself 
without a witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from 
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and 
gladness." That knowledge of God which might be obtained 
by the study of his works is in all ages open to mankind. 
" The heavens ever declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
ment showeth forth his handy work. Day is uttering speech 
unto day, and night unto night is showing knowledge : and 
there is no speech nor language where their voice is not 
heard." The writings of Socrates indicate to us the extent 
to which the knowledge derived from this source may be 
attained, and the facts from which he reasoned were spread 



58 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

before all men. Notwithstanding this, there was none that 
was seeking after God. No one was asking, Where is God 
my Maker ? unless as a question of metaphysical speculation. 
They remained, even in the days of the intellectual glory of 
Greece, the slaves of a debasing and abominable idolatry. 
I do not know that any clearer illustration can be presented 
of the truth of the assertion in the text than that which these 
facts exhibit. If men had liked to retain God in their knowl- 
edge, such a tendency, working out such results, could not 
have existed. The moral history of man bears witness to the 
truth of the divine declaration, that all men have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God ; and that, as they changed 
the true God into a lie, and worshipped and served the crea- 
ture more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, — for this 
cause God gave them over to vile affections. If there be a 
God, and we have thus forsaken him, surely no other result 
than this could reasonably be expected. 

Thus far I have attempted to exhibit the moral tendency 
of man when he has been destitute of a written revelation. 
The subject, however, is capable of yet further illustration. 

It was when the whole world was lying in the wickedness 
of which I have spoken, that the Messiah appeared to take 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. By the light of nature 
we might have discovered the justice and goodness of God, 
and our own deep and inherent sinfulness ; but we could 
never discover a way in which he could be just, and justify 
the guilty. But Jesus Christ came to reveal to us God in the 
character of a Father, willing to be reconciled, offering to us, 
as a free gift, pardon, reconciliation, and eternal life. " As 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was the Son 
of man lifted up, that whosoever believed on him might not 
perish, but have everlasting life." The thick cloud which 
veiled the mercy-seat was dispersed, and every man might in 
humble confidence approach our Father in heaven, through 
the mediation of his well-beloved Son. The gospel of Jesus 
Christ is a message from God, beseeching men to repent of 



MORAL CHARACTER OP MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 59 

their sins, and yield to him that affection which is his most 
righteous due. 

It is not needful that I here refer to the manner in which 
this offer of pardon was* received, or the enmity which its pro- 
mulgation excited in the breasts both of Jew and Gentile. It 
is, however, difficult to account for the fact, that an offer of 
restoration to piety and holiness should excite men to wrath, 
unless they were intensely sinful. But passing by this con- 
sideration, I proceed to remark, that this declaration of the 
willingness of God to receive us again to his favor, was made 
in a language at that time universally accessible, and thus it 
was rapidly disseminated throughout the civilized world. The 
written revelation was accompanied by the living preacher, and 
the good news of salvation was proclaimed in every city and 
village of the Roman empire. The truth thus promulgated, 
after centuries of persecution, aroused the slumbering con- 
science of man, and revealed the absurdity of the rites of 
heathenism. It banished the classical mythology from the 
earth, and among all the nations of the then known world, 
established its claim as a revelation from the Most High. 
Multitudes of men, in every place, were the examples and the 
witnesses of its transforming power. Now, it might well be 
asked, Could such a revelation, committed to writing, univer- 
sally disseminated, and enforced by the precepts of the dis- 
ciples of Christ, be again hidden from the eyes of men? 
Could the worship of God, which it taught, be exchanged for a 
sensual idolatry, and the pure doctrines of Jesus be made the 
ministers of sin ? If all this were done, it would surely pre- 
sent a still stronger illustration of the truth of the text, — they 
did not like to retain God in their knowledge. 

What have been the facts in this case ? We are obliged to 
answer, that the downward moral tendency of our race, even 
under these circumstances, was, in a remarkable manner, 
analogous to that which we have already described among the 
heathen. 

The church of Christ had scarcely escaped from the perse- 



60 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

cution of centuries, before the priesthood began to lay claim to 
the authority of mediating between God and man. This 
claim, strange as it may seem, was admitted, and an order of 
men, united under an infallible head, was acknowledged to be 
the only medium through whom any spiritual blessing could be 
conveyed to mankind. Their teachings were alone held to be 
obligatory upon the conscience, and in their hands were de- 
posited the keys of heaven and helL Where such an institution 
existed, the Scriptures, of course, could be of no practical im- 
portance ; for of what value can be a written law, in the pres- 
ence of the infallible lawgiver ? The word of the living God 
was thus exchanged for the doctrines and commandments of 
men, and salvation was to be looked for, not from the Re- 
deemer himself, but from him whom he had appointed to be 
his vicegerent on earth. 

This was the first step in the progress of Christianized 
idolatry. It did not, however, remove man far enough from 
God to silence the voice of conscience, or render him the 
sufficiently passive slave of an ambitious hierarchy. Heav- 
enly intercessors were proposed, who might present our prayers 
to the all-seeing God, and through whose influence we might 
be rendered acceptable to our Father in heaven. The Virgin 
Mary, as the mother of God, was first proposed for the adora- 
tion of the faithful- Peter and the rest of the apostles soon 
shared in this modified homage. To them very soon were 
added beatified martyrs, confessors, bishops, and saints, good 
and bad, without number, until the calendar was crowded with 
the names of those whom Christian men were commanded to 
worship. These were at first introduced merely as interces- 
sors ; but, as they were recognized as the immediate authors 
of our blessings, prayer was soon addressed to them, instead 
of to God himself. As in ancient paganism, so here, again, the 
cloud of inferior deities rendered the divinity invisible to man. 
The beatified saint took the place of the deified hero, or the 
half-mortal demigod ; the true God was again exchanged for a 
false one, and the professed disciples of Christ worshipped and 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOO. 61 

served the creature rather than the Creator. Nor did this in- 
fatuation stop here. Images, pictures, relics, became objects 
ot worship, and thus the works of men's hands, or the moulder- 
ing relics of his earthly tabernacle, were adored in the place 
of the ever-blessed God. 

In this case, as in the other, the passions formed an alliance 
with the natural tendency of man to seek for aid from some 
supernatural power. As the ancient pagan selected his demi- 
god, so the paganized Christian selected his saint, who should 
aid him in the accomplishment of his purposes, or avert from 
him the retribution which he had deserved. Even at the 
present day, the Greek pirate invokes his patron saint as he 
leaps on board the vessel which he has devoted to destruction ; 
he mutters his prayers as he does the deed of murder, and, 
returning home, offers a portion of his spoils to the Virgin, in 
thankfulness for her aid in his nefarious enterprise. The 
Italian assassin repeats his pater noster as he whets his sti- 
letto, and devoutly crosses himself as he withdraws it, reeking 
from the bosom of his rival. Nor was this all. If God have 
established a vicegerency on earth, and man has power to 
forgive sins, he may well be supposed to have power also to 
dictate the terms on which forgiveness may be obtained. Nay, 
more ; it is going but a single step farther to assert that the 
authority which could absolve from guilt after the commission 
of crime, might also remit the penalty in anticipation. Now 
all this was, at one time, actually believed throughout Chris- 
tendom. It is easy to perceive that a licentious age would 
gladly avail itself of such a doctrine to silence the voice of 
conscience, and that an ambitious priesthood would eagerly 
inculcate it as a means for the attainment of universal power. 
Such were the results that actually followed. At the time of 
the reformation, Christianity was supposed merely to consist 
in the performance of rites, and in obedience to the priesthood, 
without holding the most remote connection with purity of 
manners or holiness of life. It was conceded that a man 
might be spotless in piety, and yet live in the practice of the 
6 



62 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 

most revolting immorality. Thus, not only was the idea of 
God excluded from human thought, but the moral power of the 
world to come was nothing better than a scourge in the hands 
of the hierarchy. There was nothing left to arrest the down- 
ward and sensual tendencies of our nature. The corruption 
that reigned triumphant in city and countiy, in church and 
state, among ecclesiastics and laymen, was almost without a 
parallel, except in the grossest periods of pagan idolatry. 
Thus, again, was the truth illustrated, that men did not like to 
retain God in their knowledge, and God again gave them over 
to a reprobate mind. 

He who will duly consider these facts, will, I think, scarcely 
fail to arrive at the conclusion that there is in the heart of man 
a moral temper averse to the character of God ; that he natu- 
rally strives to substitute a fiction of his own, as an object of 
worship, in the place of the true God ; that, this having been 
done, all safeguards of virtue are removed, man is given over 
to a reprobate mind, and becomes the willing slave of passion 
and sensuality. 

But has this tendency in human nature been even yet eradi- 
cated ? I wish that there was sufficient reason for answering 
this question in the affirmative. At the reformation, the 
Scriptures were again given to the people, and the pure light 
from heaven shone once more among the nations. Yet, even 
in Protestant Christendom, if I mistake not, undeniable traces 
of the same idolatrous bias have from time to time discovered 
themselves. The priesthood, in some instances, has again 
asserted its claim to the right of mediating between God and 
man; of being the exclusive interpreters of the holy oracles, 
and the only medium through which the grace of Christ can be 
conferred upon his disciples. Nay, more ; we have been told 
that our acceptance with God does not depend absolutely on 
faith in Christ and holiness of heart, but also on the reception 
of ordinances from the hands of men whom God has intrusted 
with the monopoly of salvation. I cannot but regard these 
arrogant assumptions, and the passive acquiescence with whiun 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO GOD. 63 

they are so frequently received, as another illustration of the 
tendency to which I have alluded. Nor would I confine the 
application of these remarks to any period or to any sect. 
Wherever the ministry assumes to be lords over God's heritage, 
instead of being ensamples to the flock ; wherever rites and 
ceremonies of any sort whatever are exalted above holiness of 
heart and a humble walk with God; wherever the Christian 
pastor claims for himself exemption from that law which Christ 
has imposed upon all, or assumes the right of modifying that 
law for his own convenience ; and whenever these doctrines 
are believed and these claims allowed by the people, — then and 
there the seeds of idolatry have been sown, and they will bear 
the fruit of apostasy from the faith. While, however, I affirm 
all this, I would by no means speak lightly of the honesty or 
the piety of many who believe to be true what I believe to 
be most lamentably false. God alone can determine the point 
beyond which error becomes incompatible with piety. That 
which is false can never be made true by the piety of him who 
affirms it ; it only derives greater power to deceive from his 
blameless life and devout conversation. 

I have thus far spoken of this tendency of man, as it has 
been exhibited in the history of nations and communities. 
But the subject admits of a more personal application. If 
such be the character of man, it is the character of every 
individual, and every one of us may discover its lineaments 
engraven upon his own moral nature. Let, then, every one 
of us answer for himself the question, Is the love of God 
within me ? In order to do this, we must appeal to our own 
consciousness. Are we conscious of any love to the God 
revealed to us in the Scriptures? Nay, I will go further. 
Can none of us recollect the time when we would have rejoiced 
beyond measure, could we have satisfactorily demonstrated that 
an all-seeing and all-holy Lord God Almighty never existed ? 
When the claims of God upon our universal love and obedi- 
ence have been pressed upon us, do none of us remember how 
our whole nature has revolted against them ? Have we never 



64 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN'. LOVE TO GOD. 

been conscious of a settled dislike to such an all-pervading 
government, and wished that there was some other universe, 
over which God did not reign, that we might flee to it, and 
escape the notice o£ his all-seeing eye ? Our own conscious- 
ness, therefore, bears witness to the truth of the text, and con- 
fesses that, by nature, we did not like to retain God in our 
knowledge. 

If such, then, be the facts disclosed by the history of man, 
they abundantly confirm the truth of the assertion in the text. 
Man by nature does not like to retain God in his knowledge, 
and he resorts to idolatry in every form, in order to escape 
from the presence of his Maker. Shutting out God from his 
thoughts, he of necessity surrenders himself to the dominion 
of the passions and the senses, and is thus given up of his 
Creator to a reprobate mind. If such be the facts, let every 
one of us ask himself what must be the end thereof. 



THE MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. 
IOVE TO MAN. 



"And the second is like ttnto it, namely, Thou shalt love 
thy neighbor as thyself." 

Matthew xxii. 36. 

I have, in previous discourses, attempted to illustrate the 
first commandment of the law, and to prove that, judged by 
it, every man must stand guilty before God. I suppose it to 
have been shown that we do not like to retain God in our 
knowledge ; that this dislike is so intense as to lead us, by the 
most absurd idolatry, to violate the dictates of our understand- 
ing, in order to escape from the idea of an all-seeing and most 
holy God. 

Taking these facts for granted, we proceed to consider the 
second commandment of the law, and to inquire whether man 
can plead innocence on the ground of obedience to its re- 
quirements. 

Before, however, proceeding to consider this part of the 
subject, a preliminary truth deserves a passing reflection. It 
is obvious to every one who bears in mind our relations to God, 
that our obligation to obey him extends to every action of our 
lives. We ourselves, our possessions, our faculties, our fellow- 
men with whom we are conversant, are not our own. God is 
the universal Proprietor of all, for in him we live, and move, 
and have our being. He is the Father of all, and he justly 
requires us to treat our brethren, who, equally with us, are his 
children, as he shall command. And yet more, he is entitled 
6* 



66 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. , LOVE TO MAN. 

not merely to obedience in the outward art, but to filial obedi- 
ence ; that is, the obedience which springs from love. Hence, 
in all our transactions with our fellow-men, we are required to 
recognize the existence of both these commandments — " Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and, " Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart." This latter principle, filial 
obedience to God, must enter as a motive into every action 
before it can either lay claim to innocence, or deserve the praise 
of the Creator. It is this sentiment alone that can sustain virtue 
when assaulted by temptation, or unite us by any tie of moral 
sympathy with our Father who is in heaven. 

You perceive, then, that every moral act, in order to merit 
the praise of God, must be pervaded by the element of love 
to him. If this element be wanting, I do not say that the action 
is destitute of virtue, but I say that it is destitute of piety, and 
that it would have been performed in just the same manner if 
there were no God. Such an action could never be pleasing 
to God ; nay, more, by the amount of all this deficiency it 
would be displeasing to him. Suppose, then, a man to obey 
perfectly the second commandment of the law, while he was 
wholly indifferent to the most blessed God, nay, while he was 
deliberately cultivating in himself the habit of settled opposi- 
tion to his law — must not the displeasure of the Most High rest 
most justly upon him ? But we have already shown that this 
latter is actually the moral condition of man ; that the love of 
God is not in him, and that he does not like to retain God in 
his knowledge. Hence it is, I think, evident that, were the 
second precept of the law faithfully obeyed, yet so long as man 
was at enmity with God, he would still remain a sinner by reason 
of the absence from all his actions, of the element of piety. 

We always judge in this manner respecting any other case. 
The keeping of one precept is no excuse for the violation of 
another. If a man obey the precept, " Thou shalt not kill," 
this can in no manner justify him in the violation of the 
precept, " Thou shalt not steal." Much less is the keeping of 
a minor and subsidiary precept a justification of the violation 






MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 67 

of a universal and all-controlling precept. If a man be guilty 
of treason against his country, can he lay claim to perfect 
innocence because he has always paid his debts ? The chief 
magistrate of a nation is under paramount obligations to con- 
form his whole conduct, both public and private, to the dictates 
of justice, veracity, and patriotism. But suppose his whole 
administration is disgraced by acts of oppression, violence, and 
treachery, — can he be held innocent because he is proved to be 
a kind husband and an affectionate parent ? When, in years 
long gone by, it was urged against a monarch of Great 
Britain, that he had repeatedly, and on deliberation, violated his 
coronation oath, and conspired to overthow the constitution of 
the realm, it was never held to be a justification of his conduct, 
to assert that he had taken his little children on his knee, and 
kissed them. 

I think, then, it may easily be granted, that while the love 
of God is excluded from the heart of man, even though he 
should love his neighbor as himself, he would still fall under 
the condemnation of the law to which he was rendered 
amenable by his Creator. 

And here we may pause for a moment to observe that this 
general truth affords an easy explanation of the passage in the 
Epistle of James — " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and 
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." By this he means 
simply to assert that a single deliberate violation of any par- 
ticular precept of the law of God sets at nought the authority 
of the Lawgiver, and demonstrates that the creature has usurped 
the place in our affections due only to the Creator. The love 
of God is not in him, for, if it truly exist at all, it must be 
supreme, and hence, all his actions, being destitute of this ele- 
ment, are in the sight of God sinful, and, of course, deserving 
of his displeasure. 

Leaving this preliminary consideration, we proceed to in- 
quire what is the character of man when subjected to the test 
of obedience to the second precept of the law, " Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself." 



68 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

Our Lord himself has explained the meaning of the term 
neighbor in this passage. It means man, eveiy man, every 
child of Adam, the being to whom we are connected by no 
other tie than this, that he is a brother of the human family. 

We are commanded to love such a one as ourselves ; that 
is, not as we do love ourselves, but as we may rightfully 
love ourselves. To enter upon a complete analysis of this 
precept, and illustrate the various classes of actions which it 
renders obligatory, would transcend the limits of this discourse. 
It will be sufficient to observe that self-love incites us to love 
our own happiness upon the whole, and to desire the uninter- 
rupted enjoyment of those means which God has given us, in 
order to secure it. It causes us to feel injured and aggrieved 
if the full enjoyment of these means is in any manner cur- 
tailed by our fellow-men. All this is innocent and proper. 
Now, in this manner we are commanded to love our fellow- 
men. We must as intensely desire that our neighbor may, 
without interruption, enjoy the means of happiness which God 
has bestowed upon him, as we desire to enjoy them ourselves ; 
and we must feel the same sense of wrong when he is injured 
as we feel when we ourselves are injured. We can claim 
for this precept no less comprehensive signification than this ; 
and I think that every man's conscience will bear witness that, 
thus interpreted, it really expresses the obligation existing be- 
tween man and his fellow-men. 

With respect to the natural disposition in man to obey this 
second precept, the Scriptures do not speak as definitely as in 
respect to the first and great commandment of the law. They 
have nowhere declared that the love of man is not in us, or 
that we do not like to retain man in our knowledge. W'hile 
they speak of our obedience to it as universally deficient, they 
do not definitely find the limit of that deficiency. This would 
be impossible, since, in respect, to this precept, our obedience 
falls short of the praise of God in very dissimilar degrees. The 
Bible presents us with instances of men who have made 
various attainments in virtue, all, however, by acknowledg- 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 69 

ment, imperfect ; and also of men who have been in various 
degrees guilty of crime, but of none as so bad that they could 
not wax worse. It clearly teaches us that the tendency of man 
is to vice rather than to virtue ; that there is not a just man 
on earth that sinneth not; that the attainment which individ- 
uals and nations have made in virtue has been owing to 
gracious influences bestowed on us from on high ; and that the 
moral degradation to which society universally tends is the 
natural consequence of the bias towards evil which has existed 
in us since the fall. To define, however, the extent of our 
sinfulness, it has not attempted ; it only asserts that all men 
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. 

Nor, indeed, is a definite statement on this subject in any 
manner necessary. Our fellow-men are every where around 
us. In almost every action of our lives, we have the opportu- 
nity of testing both their dispositions and our own, in respect to 
this precept. We have to deal with this matter practically. 
Every man can judge for himself whether or not his fellow 
men are inclined to obey the law of reciprocity when they can 
make gain by disobeying it. Every one arrived at years of 
discretion knows whether the ordinary and applauded max- 
ims of business do or do not proceed upon the principle, that 
men actually love their neighbor as themselves. Every parent 
knows whether children, at a very early age, do or do not 
manifest this tendency. Nay, we can all determine this ques- 
tion, each one for himself, by referring to the testimony of his 
own consciousness. We can easily tell whether selfishness or 
disinterestedness is the natural bias of a human soul, and 
whether it does or does not require an effort to do justice to 
our neighbor when we can only do so by the sacrifice of our 
own interests. We all know whether pure and impartial 
justice, in the dealings between man and man, is the rule or 
the exception ; and whether he who should describe a per- 
fectly good man as an actual existence, would not be looked 
upon as a retailer of fiction. Nay, were such a man to appear 
on earth, we could be by no means sure that he would escape 



70 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

the fate of Aristides, who was banished from Athens for the 
reason that his fellow-citizens could not bear to hear hirn 
always denominated the just. 

Such is, I believe, the universal testimony of man. The 
Scriptures every where confirm it, though they never deny 
that some portion of justice exists among men ; nor do they 
designate the particular degree in which man has, in this 
respect, gone astray from original righteousness. I shall, in 
the remainder of this discourse, attempt to present some con- 
siderations which may tend to illustrate these declarations of 
the word of God. 

In treating this subject, I shall not set before you particular 
instances of wickedness exhibited in the conduct either of 
individuals or of nations. These, it might be said, are extreme 
cases, owing to particular circumstances, and not therefore 
justly to be laid to the charge of men universally. We shall, 
therefore, draw our argument, not from particular cases, but 
from facts of the most general character, which meet the eye 
wherever it is turned thoughtfully upon actions of mankind. 

I think, then, it is evident, that the moral disposition of man, 
in this respect, must, by necessity, determine the form of 
social organization wherever individuals unite in a community. 
In establishing the principles by which a society of moral and 
intelligent creatures should be governed, you would proceed in 
one way if every one of them loved his neighbor as himself, 
and in a very different way if every one of them loved him- 
self better than his neighbor. Safeguards, limitations, punish- 
ments, would be necessary in one case that would be unneces- 
sary in the other. Thus, also, by observing the framework of 
any society, it would not be difficult to discover what was 
the kind of beings for whose benefit it was constructed. In 
examining a machine, there is little difficulty in determining 
whether it is designed to float in the air like a balloon, or tear 
up the greensward like a plough. So, by examining the prin- 
ciples on which human society is formed, it will not be difficult 
to ascertain whether it was intended for beings who were by 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 71 

nature disposed to obey, or for those by nature disposed to 
disobey, the commandment in the text. 

I. I remark, then, in the first place, that our first conception 
of social organization proceeds upon the supposition that men 
are naturally inclined to violate this law. 

Every man is endowed by the Creator with the perfect right 
to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; 
that is, with a perfect right to use as he will the means which 
God has placed in his hands for the attainment of his own hap- 
piness, provided he do not interfere with the same perfect 
and equal right which every other man enjoys in common with 
himself. To act in obedience to this elementary principle, is 
to obey the law of reciprocity ; that is, to love our neighbor as 
ourselves, in the sense which I have already explained. Were 
men naturally inclined' to obey this precept, they would need 
no organization to prevent them from violating it. It is ab- 
surd to take pains to prevent men from doing that which they 
have no disposition to do. We make no provision for obliging 
men to eat when they are hungry, or to rest when they are 
weary. When there exists a natural disposition to any par. 
ticular course of conduct, we leave it, if it be innocent, to 
itself, never attempting to do what nature can do so much 
better without us. 

But, if we will attentively consider, we shall perceive that 
the first, and by far most important object for which human 
society is established, is to prevent the violation of the law of 
reciprocity. It proceeds upon the principle that every man 
will, if he can, employ for his own happiness not only the 
means which God has given him, but also those which God has 
given to his neighbor. But it is evident, that, were this prin 
ciple admitted, it would lead to universal and interminable war, 
until the race was exterminated. And, besides, although every 
man is disposed to infringe the rights of his neighbor himself, 
he is by no means disposed to concede this power to another. 
The moral sense acts correctly when it is not biased by self- 
ishness. Hence men instinctively combine together for the 



72 MORAL* CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

purpose of obliging each other to obey the law of reciprocity. 
If any one attempt to infringe the rights of his neighbor, the 
rest of the community, with one voice, command him to 
forbear. They find that human society cannot exist without 
employing the power of the whole in favor of right, and thus 
obliging every individual, by the authority of the whole, to 
respect the rights of his fellows. It is from this function of 
society that all law emanates. Society confers no rights; it 
only guaranties to every man the enjoyment of those rights 
which have been conferred upon him by his Creator. 

We see, then, that the first conception of human society is 
that of an instinctive arrangement for the purpose of prevent- 
ing the violation of the rule in the text. Civilization advances, 
and the happiness of man, both individual arid social, is pro- 
moted, just in the proportion that this" purpose of society is 
more and more perfectly accomplished. So soon as this pur- 
pose of society is abandoned, right is universally violated with 
impunity, and a nation becomes a prey to universal wicked- 
ness. The power of society to repress crime being withdrawn, 
anarchy ensues — a word which instantly suggests to us all the 
misery which man can suffer from violence and injustice. It 
is the rule of might uncontrolled by right. It is a condition in 
which every man is at liberty to seek his own gratification, 
however small, in violation of the rights of his neighbor, how- 
ever sacred. A partial illustration of this condition of human- 
ity was presented by the city of Paris in some periods of the 
first French revolution. An illustration yet more striking was 
several times exhibited during the Peninsular war, when cities 
taken by assault were delivered up to the will of the soldiery 
by the orders both of the French and British commanders. 
An innocent and unarmed population — men, women, and 
children — were in these instances left, without law, entirely to 
the mercy of their fellow-men. The victors might do with 
the vanquished precisely as they chose. The atrocities of 
such a scene, as I have been informed by eye-witnesses, are 
too horrible for recital. Men, under such circumstances, are 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 73 

transformed from human beings into demons, and a city sur- 
rendered up to their lusts, presents a more vivid picture of 
hell than can be found elsewhere on earth. If, then, the 
elementary conception of a social organization assumes as a 
fact the selfishness of man ; if the great object of this organiza- 
tion is to protect the individual from the infringement of his 
rights ; if the most horrible condition of humanity of which we 
can conceive is that of men left without control to do exactly 
as they choose, and seek their own gratification without re- 
gard to the happiness of their neighbors, — it would seem that 
there can be no question respecting the natural disposition of 
man. Such things could never exist among beings who were 
by nature disposed to love their neighbor as themselves. 

In the second place, — 

II. The history of the various forms of human government 
illustrates the truth that man does not love his neighbor as 
himself. 

Suppose a society to be organized for the purpose I have 
specified above, — it is necessary that its power be confided to 
the hands of comparatively iew individuals. The whole of 
the society cannot act in every case that requires its inter- 
ference. The authority of the whole must be delegated to a 
part, who thus become what we call the government or magis- 
tracy. The object, therefore, for which a magistracy is ap- 
pointed, is so to administer the power of the whole, that every 
individual shall be confirmed in the enjoyment of every right 
bestowed upon him by his Creator ; that is, that every individ- 
ual shall be obliged to obey the law of reciprocity. 

Now, I need scarcely remind you that the best talent of the 
human race has from the beginning been employed in the 
attempt to devise a form of government which shall accomplish 
this object, and that thus far (unless our republic shall prove 
an exception) the attempt has signally failed. It has been 
found practically impossible so to balance the various powers 
of the state that the individual shall be free to do right, whiie 
he is at the same time restrained from doing wrong. It has 
7 



74 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

taken ages of reasoning and reflection, and it has cost torrents 
of blood, to ascertain, with any thing like precision, even what 
are the limits within which society has any right to interfere 
with the actions of the individual. And after this limit has 
been discovered, how shall we construct a government which 
will not transgress it ? If we bestow too much or too irre- 
sponsible power upon rulers, they become tyrants, and the 
government is overthrown by reason of its oppression. If 
we bestow upon them too little power, violence will neither 
be prevented nor injury redressed, and the individual, de- 
spairing of redress or of protection from society, seeks it for 
himself ; and thus ensues universal anarchy. 

Hence it has happened, I think, that the most stable gov- 
ernments on earth have been civil or spiritual despotisms. 
When the rulers form an intelligent and vigilant caste, and 
can withhold from the people a knowledge of their rights ; 
or when a priesthood can persuade them that their eternal 
salvation depends upon unquestioning obedience to the man- 
dates of a hierarchy ; and specially when these two forms 
of despotism can be united, — that is, when you can deprive 
men of the exercise of reason and conscience, until, in some 
of the most important respects, they cease to be men, — then 
they may be governed in quietness. If you can turn men 
into brutes, you may govern them like brutes. But restore 
them to their rank, as the intelligent and responsible creatures 
of God, and their passions, stimulated by liberty, defy re- 
straint, and render a permanent government almost impossi- 
ble. Hence it has been so often remarked, that the civil 
institutions of man have, in all ages, trodden, with greater or 
less rapidity, the same invariable circle from anarchy to des- 
potism, and from despotism again to anarchy. The forms of 
government which have endured the longest, have been those 
which have vibrated, from time to time, between these oppo- 
site extremes. When, this invariable circle has been trodden 
slowly, the changes have been less violent, and mankind have, 
at intervals of peace, been permitted to enjoy the blessings 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. iO 

bestowed upon them by their Creator. Where, on the other 
hand, this circle has been rapidly passed over, and civil in- 
stitutions, by the turbulence of passion, have been frequently 
overturned, the race of man, worn out with the struggle, ha3 
ceased from the earth ; and thus it has happened, that whole 
regions, once the abode of wealth and civilization, are now a 
wilderness ; and the remains of once populous cities have 
become the lair of the lion and the hiding-place of the jackal. 

Or, if we pass by the interior history of civil societies, the 
same truth is illustrated in the principles which have generally 
governed the intercourse of nations with each other. Where 
is the nation to be found that ever treated other nations, spe- 
cially if they were weaker, on the principles of reciprocity ? Do 
men ever even expect it ? Nay, do they not frequently applaud 
the successful violation of right ? Who has ever reaped so 
abundant a harvest of human applause as the military con- 
queror ? What, besides his incomparable talent for war, has 
crowned with imperishable renown the name of the late em- 
peror Napoleon ? When a battle has been fought, which has 
covered the earth with slain, and carried mourning, and widow- 
hood, and orphanage, to every village throughout the land, 
the only question that we ask is, Which of the armies has 
been victorious ? Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, are 
celebrated as the heroes of our race ; but we never think of 
the millions who were slaughtered to glut their lust of power. 
Now, I ask, if we loved the rights of our neighbors as our 
own, could such things be done ? or, if they were done, could 
they fail to awaken a universal sentiment of intense moral 
indignation ? Can we conceive of a more atrocious crime 
than that of butchering our fellow-men for the sake of in- 
creasing our fame or advancing our personal interests, or the 
interests of a political party ? And yet, we not only do such 
things, but have pleasure in those that do them. 

It may be asked, Is not our country an exception to these 
remarks ? In the formation of our civil constitution, I sup- 
pose that the law of reciprocity has been more thoughtfully 



Jli MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

considered than in the formation of any other that history has 
recorded. The principle of the universal equality of human 
rights, with one lamentable exception, has here been fully 
recognized. But does any one believe that our constitution 
can endure, if it rely for support on nothing but the natural 
love of justice in the human bosom ? Thus far, owing to the 
religious principles in which we have been educated, it has 
stood. This, however, is a superinduced influence ; it is the 
result of the teaching of revelation accompanied by power 
from on high. But, I ask, was there ever before a people 
among whom such a government as ours could have been 
maintained even for a single year ? Nay, abstract from this 
people the influences diffused abroad by the religion of Christ, 
abolish the Bible, the Sabbath, the instructions of the sanc- 
tuary, abandon us all to the natural workings of the human 
heart, and let any one ask himself how long such a gov- 
ernment as ours could possibly exist. 

III. I do not know but any additional proof on this subject 
may seem superfluous. I am, however, unwilling to close the 
argument without suggesting another consideration, nearly 
allied to this last, to which I have alluded. 

Were men universally, or even generally, inclined to obey 
the precept in the text, it is manifest that the making of laws, 
and the carrying them into execution, would be the easiest 
labor imaginable. Infringement of right, if it existed at all, 
would result simply from imperfection of the understanding, 
and never from pravity of the heart. The legislator need 
not, in any case, do more than merely to indicate to his fellow- 
citizens the rule of right, so that those less well informed 
than himself might not fall into error. Every man would re- 
ceive with gratitude any instructions which would enable him 
to avoid doing wrong to his neighbor. And, if any one, 
through inadvertence, had infringed the rights of his fellow, of 
all the men in the community, he would be the most anxious to 
acknowledge his error, and make all the reparation in his power. 
We should, in such a state of society, stand in no need of 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. // 

penal enactments, since every one would, of his own choice, 
do all that justice could prescribe. Law would be nothing 
else than instruction in our duty, unaccompanied by the threat 
of punishment for disobedience. Sheriffs and constables, 
prisons, penitentiaries, and executions, would have been 
unheard of among men. The just and disinterested dispo- 
sition which ruled in the heart, would render ail these sad 
mementoes of our depravity utterly without use and without 
object. 

But what do we observe to be actually the fact ? No one 
is so childish as not to know that a law without a penalty 
would be deemed the greatest of practical absurdities. The 
legislator who should propose the enactment of such a code, 
would, by universal consent, be esteemed insane. And then 
reflect upon the number of laws necessary for the govern- 
ment of the human race. In all civilized countries, a large 
portion of men, reputed to be preeminent for intelligence, is 
constantly employed in the labor of legislation ; that is, in 
framing enactments whose object it is to prevent man from 
doing injury to his neighbor. It is, moreover, found that the 
greatest practical skill is required in order to construct a law 
so that it shall not be rendered inoperative by evasion. Even 
such skill can but imperfectly, and for a short period, resist 
the pressure of human selfishness. The most perfect rule 
that man could devise for to-day, would, in a few years, need 
addition, alteration, or amendment, in order to protect the 
innocent from modes of injury which, at the beginning, would 
never have been dreamed of. Hence, in every country which 
has made any considerable progress in civilization, laws and 
commentaries upon them, form, of themselves, libraries of 
appalling magnitude. The laws, for instance, of Great 
Britain constitute, of themselves, the study of a lifetime. 
And yet, even these are insufficient to prevent an extent of 
crime which we cannot look upon without dismay. These 
laws are enforced by the severest punishments ; and yet 
prisons and penitentiaries are crowded, transport ships are 
7* 



78 MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 

loaded, the gallows groans under its sad burden ; yet crime 
increases, though not one out of ten who deserve it, ever comes 
within the reach of the officer of justice. 

In addition to this, consider the talent that is daily employed 
in the administration of the law. Judges, jurors, counsellors, 
and executive officers, are laboring incessantly throughout the 
length and breadth of the land. They toil on without inter- 
mission ; but the burden, like the stone of Sisyphus, returns 
upon them, year after year, with redoubled weight. The phi- 
lanthropist and the Christian aid the efforts of the legislator by 
all the eloquence of love. Education is scattered broadcast 
among the people. The pulpit and the Sabbath school unite 
their energies in the attempt to prevent crime and reform the 
criminal ; but the work of violence and dishonesty still goes 
forward. We seem surrounded by a pestilential moral atmos- 
phere, which cannot be excluded, unless life itself be ex- 
tinguished. At last, every one but the disciple of Christ, gives 
up, in despair, the effort to reform the race ; and it is acknowl- 
edged that unless the moral nature of man can be changed by 
power from on high, the all-grasping selfishness of the human 
heart can never be reduced to obedience, to reason, and to 
conscience. 

Such being the acknowledged facts, I think there can no 
longer remain any doubt on this subject. The conclusion is 
pressed upon us on every side, that mankind is guilty of the 
violation of the second precept of the law as truly as of viola- 
tion of the first. Such are the truths revealed by our moral his- 
tory. They belong to that class of general facts which need not 
be established by argument, but which meet us at once as soon 
as we open our eyes upon the condition of the world around us. 

It would seem, then, from a review of the facts which we 
have endeavored to establish, that, in the words of the apostle, 
all men have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. In- 
stead of loving God with all his heart, the love of God is not 
in man ; and, more than this, he is cherishing those moral hab- 
its which must issue in direct, and intense, and endless enmity 



MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN. LOVE TO MAN. 79 

to his Maker. Instead of loving his neighbor as himself, his 
love to his neighbor easily yields to the demands of selfishness 
or passion ; and the result has been, that, from the beginning, 
notwithstanding all the monitions of conscience, and all the 
restraints of society, the earth has been filled with violence. 
Mankind must, therefore, plead guilty to the charge of dis- 
obedience to both of the great commandments of reason and 
revelation. 

Suppose all this to be so, and men to enter the unseen 
world with this very moral character unchangeably rivetted 
upon them for eternity. They would find themselves at en- 
mity forever with infinite holiness and goodness, sustained by 
almighty power and guided by omniscient wisdom. This in 
itself would create despair, rendered more agonizing by the 
reproaches of conscience — that worm that dieth not, that fire 
that cannot be quenched. Nor is this all. They have delib- 
erately refused to submit to the law of God, and God with- 
draws and leaves them to a state in which there is no law. 
They preferred the government of their passions, and God 
surrenders them to the rule which they have preferred. Sup- 
pose then, that, intelligent creatures, knowing no law but passion, 
and each one seeking his own gratification, at the expense of 
the happiness of all the rest, to be separated from the other 
moral creatures of God, and left to the indulgence of uncon- 
trolled desire. The result must be enmity growing more and 
more intense and terrific, and this must be forever. 

Such is our condition by nature, and such the destiny for 
which, if divine grace prevent not, we are preparing. The 
wages of sin, that which it deserves, and to which it by neces- 
sity tends, is death. The gift of God, that which proceeds 
from his boundless and unmerited love, is eternal life, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 



THE FALL OF MAN 



" By one man's disobedience many ■were made sinners." 

Romans v. 19. 

I have, iii previous discourses, attempted to place before 
you the scriptural account of the moral character of man. 
The question here naturally arises, How could a race of 
sinners have been created by a holy and most merciful God ? 
The answer to this question is contained, in part, in the words 
of the text. By one man's disobedience many, or " the many," 
became sinners. That is, the Scriptures teach us that the 
race of man was created upright, that our first parents sinned, 
and that, in consequence of that sin, their descendants are 
found to be universally depraved. My object, in the present 
discourse, is simply to present the statement of the Scriptures 
on this subject, and to consider some of the objections that have 
been urged against it. 

1. The Bible asserts that God created our first parents per- 
fect. " God created man in his own image ; in the image of 
God created he him. And God saw every thing that he had 
made, and behold it was very good." By this 1 understand 
that God created man with a perfect moral nature, such that 
every impulse and affection was in harmony with the relations 
in which he was placed. But man was endowed with the 
gift of free agency. He had the same power to disobey the 
law of God as to obey it. Without such power he could have 
been neither virtuous nor vicious. The consequences of obedi- 






THE FALL OF MAN. 81 

ence and disobedience were placed before him, and thus his 
destiny was left in his own hands. 

2. It pleased God, at an early period in the history of man, 
to place before him a trial of his obedience. " And the Lord 
God commanded man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou 
mayest freely eat ; but of the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die." Whether this narrative be 
understood literally or figuratively, its lesson is precisely the 
same. It teaches the all-important truth, that there is a moral 
limit affixed to the gratification of human desires ; that under 
our present constitution, we have the power to enjoy objects 
which God has forbidden, and to pursue the gratifications 
which he has allowed, beyond the limit which he has assigned ; 
and that the perfect subjection of all our desires to the holy 
will of God is made the test of our moral character, and the 
universal means of our improvement in virtue. This is my 
interpretation of this history. I look simply at the moral 
lesson which it teaches. The drapery with which it is clothed 
is a matter of inferior consequence. 

3. The Scriptures proceed to inform us, that our first parents 
were tempted by Satan to disobey the plain commands of God. 
" The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit 
of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is 
in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of 
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent 
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die ; for God doth 
know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall 
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing both good and 
evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for 
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be 
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and 
did eat, and gave also to her husband, and he did eat." 

How other men may look upon this narrative, I know not. 
To me it presents a perfect analysis of every act of sin against 
God. In the first place, there is a conviction, more or less 



82 THE FALL OF MAN. 

distinct, that the act is a violation of the known will of 
God. Then there is a dallying with temptation, and a contem- 
plation of the pleasure which we may enjoy by sin. This is 
succeeded by obtuseness of conscience and the hope that the 
desire may be indulged, and yet the consequences which God 
has threatened be averted. Then follows an intenser d< 
for pleasure, the power of passion waxes stronger, and tl e 
power of conscience waxes weaker. At length, the balance 
between these opposing forces is destroyed, the will consents, 
the act is done, the sin is committed. I do not know that the 
literature of our race presents a more accurate account of the 
process of wilful transgression than is here recorded in the 
first pages of our history. They speak a language that finds a 
response in every human bosom. 

4. This one act changes at once the moral condition of the 
creature. It is not merely a sin, — it is a fall, a fall into a 
fathomless abyss. It is a victory of the passions over the con- 
science, a defeat that can never be retrieved. It is a declara- 
tion of rebellion against God, a deliberate preference of the 
pleasures of sense to the favor of our Father who is in heaven. 
With the change of the object of his supreme affection, the 
man himself is radically changed. God, who is unchangeably 
opposed to this new choice of the creature, ceases to be lovely 
and adorable in his eyes. Henceforth, he becomes an object 
of suspicion and dread. Adam and his wife hid themselves 
from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden, 
just as their children ever since have endeavored to hide them- 
selves from the smze of omniscience. Instead of confessing 
their sin, they strove to impute their guilt to each other. 
Henceforth all their character becomes tinged with moral 
corruption. 

5. After this, the Scriptures always speak of the race of 
man as corrupt and sinful. The first-born of our common 
parents was the murderer of his brother. Soon " God saw that 
the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that 
every imagination of the thought of his heart was wholly evil 



THE FALL OF MAN. 83 

continually." Throughout the volume of inspiration man is 
every where spoken of as morally depraved, a sinner against 
God, and, in consequence of this sin, under the condemnation 
of his most holy law. 

But the Scriptures go farther. Unless I wholly mistake their 
meaning., they assert that there is a definite connection between 
this sin and the consequent sinful character of our first parents, 
and the sinful character of their posterity. By one man's 
disobedience, the many were made sinners. " By one man, sin 
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed 
upon all men, in that all have sinned." The Bible, however, 
does not assert that we committed Adam's sin, or that we are 
guilty of Adam's sin, or that we shall be punished for it, or 
that we had any part or participation in it. It, on the con- 
trary, declares that every man shall be judged for what he has 
himself done. Every man shall give an account of himself 
to God. But the Bible does, nevertheless, inform us that such 
a connection exists between us and our first parents ; that we 
become sinners in consequence of their transgression. Of the 
manner of this connection, it gives us but little information ; yet 
some important light may possibly be discovered if we dili- 
gently reflect upon the truth which has been revealed to us. 

Such is a brief statement of the doctrines of the Scriptures 
on this subject. Are they in any respect at variance with 
right reason ? Is there in them a single assertion repugnant to 
the human intelligence and conscience ? To these questions 
let us now direct our attention. 

The substance of the Scripture statements may be, I think, 
expressed briefly as follows : — 

I. Our first parents were created free agents, that is, moral 
intelligences. 

II. They were placed under circumstances in which their 
virtue was subjected to trial. 

III. By the constitution under which our race was created, 
the conditions of our probation were so interwoven with theirs, 
that, if they became sinful, we should become sinful also. 



84 



THE FALL OF MAN. 



Let us briefly consider each of these statements, for the 
purpose of inquiring whether in either or all of them there is 
any thing revolting to an enlightened conscience, or at variance 
with the moral attributes of God. 

I. Can any objection be urged against the truth that our first 
parents, and all the race of man, have been created free agents, 
that is, moral and accountable beings ? 

I might here observe, that the doctrine of man's free 
agency is not a doctrine of revealed religion, or, in fact, of 
religion at all. It is the simple dictate of the human con- 
sciousness. To object to it is just the same absurdity as to 
complain because God lias given us hands or feet, a heart or a 
brain, or a reasoning soul ; it is, in fact, to revile the great 
Giver on account of his gifts. 

But, farther : a moral agent differs from a brute mainly in 
this — that he is capable of distinguishing right from wrong, 
and of choosing freely between them ; that he is capable of 
deserving moral praise and blame, and is held responsible for 
his actions before the tribunal of a righteous and all-seeing 
Judge. Brutes are endowed with none of these powers, and 
are charged with none of this responsibleness. 

Now, can any one impugn either the justice or the goodness 
of God, because we, and all the orders of higher intelligences, 
were not created brutes ? Would it have been more consistent 
with the perfections of the Holy One to fill creation with beings 
unable either to admire or adore his goodness, who could nei- 
ther love him or be loved by him, who were, by the necessity of 
their existence, incapable of virtue — sensual, irrational, brutish 
Or would it be good or wise for the Deity at this moment to 
withdraw from all created intelligences the gift of moral 
agency, and transform men and angels, cherubim and sera- 
phim, into brutes that perish ? Should we desire that ourselves 
or our friends should become oxen of the stall or- swine of the 
sty ? We cannot, then, make any objection to the goodness 
of God because he has created us and othor of our fellow- 
creatures moral agents. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 85 

But, in this very idea of moral agency, there is involved, as 
we have already intimated, the power of choice, the absolute 
freedom of the will. When the good and evil are set before 
us, we must be left entirely free to choose and to refuse, or 
there could be no moral desert, and we could not justly be the 
subjects either of reward or of punishment. To the truth of 
this every man's consciousness bears witness. We do not feel 
deserving of either praise or blame for the pulsations of the 
heart or the heaving of the lungs, or for being either hungry or 
thirsty, but only for those acts which we know to be dependent 
on our own volitions. As soon as an act is placed beyond our 
own control, we disclaim all responsiblity both for it and its 
results. 

Again : I think that our notion of moral agency involves the 
additional idea that there are certain limits established beyond 
which the Deity does not interfere with the actions of his 
creatures. If he have conferred upon him the power of free 
choice, he does not interfere with that power, nor retract the 
gift which he has bestowed. He places before men motives, 
and leaves them free to act, in view of them, as they will. 
Having created a man or an angel, he ever treats him as a 
man or an angel, and neither as a brute nor a stone. Hence, 
if God have created man free, and fixed the just limits beyond 
which he will not interfere with his actions, the Deity is not 
responsible for the result. An invaluable source of happiness 
is placed in the power of the creature, and he is at liberty to 
use or to abuse it. Let him do either, the character of the 
Most High is unsullied.* 

Is it said that thus far the exercise of this power has been 
productive of misery, rather than happiness, inasmuch as our 
whole race has abused it ? I answer, this world occupies an 

* I do not here bring into view the doctrine of the agency of the 
Holy Spirit. This is a free gift, the result of the mediation of Christ, 
to which we could lay no claim, and which, under a system of law, 
has no place. Besides, even this agency is exerted in perfect har- 
mony with the free agency of man. 
8 



86 THE FALL OF MAN. 

almost infinitely small space in the whole universe of God 
It may be that this is the only spot, in the whole creation, in 
which this constitution has produced any thing but happiness. 
Incomparably the greatest portion of the creation we believe 
to be holy and happy ; and wherever there are holiness and 
happiness, they are the result of this very gift of moral agen- 
cy. It is this which has filled heaven with myriads of spirits, 
who have passed through their probation without sin, and are 
now rejoicing before the throne, clothed in a holiness that 
cannot be sullied. Let us, then, learn to look upon the ways 
of God with humility ; and, least of all, let us speak lightly 
of that endowment by which we become specially allied to 
the divine nature. 

II. If, then, it was just and merciful in God to create a 
race of moral intelligences, was there any thing at variance 
with his perfections in the circumstances in which our first 
parents were placed ? 

They were created innocent, in the image of God. 

They were endowed with moral powers capable of appre- 
ciating their obligations to the Creator, and an intellect by 
which they became aware of the consequences of their 
actions. All the conditions which were necessary to influ- 
ence their decision, were within the sphere of their vision, 
and they were endowed with the unrestrained liberty of 
choice. 

The trial to which they were subjected was by no means 
unreasonable for beings thus endowed. The preponderance 
of motives was such as might naturally be expected to lead 
them to choose the path to virtue and happiness. The word 
of the tempter was set against the word of the Creator. A 
momentary sensual gratification was opposed to the displeas- 
ure of the eternal Father. The finite was put in comparison 
with the infinite. It was under such circumstances that man 
was required to hold fast his integrity during the brief period 
of his probation, with the promise, if he were found faithful, 
of immortal felicity. More favorable conditions of probation 



THE FALL OF MAN. 87 

can scarcely be conceived. If there must be a moral trial, 
it could not take place under more favorable auspices. 

Still, it is to be remembered that the result is left depend- 
ent upon man's free will. After all, he is, and from the 
necessity of his nature he must be, liable to sin. He may act 
in opposition to every noble and generous motive, and yield 
himself up to the seductions of sense. Unless there existed 
this liability, he would be as incapable of virtue as of vice. 

Do you ask me how a being so constituted and so con- 
ditioned could ever sin ? This question can be answered in 
no other manner than by an appeal to the observation and 
consciousness of every man. Why is it that we see such 
things done every day ? And why is it that every thoughtful 
man feels himself liable continually to just such moral 
disasters ? Why is it that men, by a single vicious indulgence, 
or the gratification of a single unholy desire, cover them- 
selves with infamy ? Why is it that men, perfectly convinced 
of the truth of the gospel, reject the offer of salvation, and 
prefer those very sensual pleasures which they confess are 
empty, vain, and absolutely despicable ? Can any man tell 
us why such things should be ? And yet, every one knows 
them to be matters of daily occurrence. 

If, then, any one will calmly consider these facts, I think 
that he will be persuaded that the conditions of probation, 
under which our first parents were placed, were eminently 
favorable. In all this there seems nothing at variance with 
the perfections of God. 

III. But an important question yet remains to be considered. 
The Scriptures teach us that 'the conditions of our probation 
were affected by the conduct of our first parents. " By one 
man's disobedience, many were made sinners." It is said that 
such a constitution is inconsistent with the justice of God. 

Suffer me here to repeat what I have before asserted. The 
Scriptures never assert that we are guilty of the sin of Adam, 
or that we are punished for it. They every where declare 
that every man is guilty simply of his own voluntary trans- 



88 



THE FALL OF MAN. 



gressions of the law, and that the guilt of every man is to be 
estimated by the degree of moral light which he has volun- 
tarily resisted. Every man is thus held responsible for just 
so much moral illumination as he has enjoyed, and no more. 
Nothing, surely, can be more equitable than this. 

What, then, is it that the Scriptures assert respecting the 
connection between us and our first parents? To me it 
seems to be simply this : If they had kept the law of God 
perfectly, their children would have passed through their pro- 
bation under more favorable circumstances than themselves ; 
and thus, through successive generations, the conditions of 
man's probation would have become more and more favorable. 
If they disobeyed God, the conditions of the probation of 
their children would be less favorable than their own ; and it 
would, through successive generations, become less and less 
favorable. In the one case, there would be created a ten- 
dency to holiness, and in the other, a tendency to sin, each 
growing stronger as long as the succession continued. In 
both cases, however, it is to be remembered that the moral 
character of each individual is subject to the power of his 
own free will.* 

Now, I think it obvious that there is no practical injustice 
in such a constitution as this. It is manifestly the fact that 
our subsequent condition depends upon our present acts. He 
who does a conspicuously good or evil act, feels its conse- 
quences ever afterwards. If, then, our good or evil condition 
is made to depend upon the act of another, and if the cir- 
cumstances, in which the trial was made, were decidedly in 
his favor, as well as ours, there seems.no practical injustice 
in making the trial in his person instead of our own. We 

' 
* I wish it to be remembered, that I here speak of this tendency 
as a fact, without discussing the manner in which it is produced. 
On this subject, various opinions have been held by theologians, 
some believing in a physical change ; others, in a spiritual bias ; others, 
again, in the power of external circumstances. Into this controversy 
it did not suit my purpose, in this place, to enter. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 89 

should have realized the benefit if he had acted worthily, as 
we suffer the injury from his acting unworthily. 

But the question still returns, Why was such a constitution 
established ? Why were moral agents so connected in des- 
tiny with those who have gone before them ? or, in other 
words, Why is our probation rendered either more or less 
favorable in consequence of actions in which we had no 
agency ? 

I answer, This is a universal principle of the divine gov- 
ernment, and we never object to it except in this particular 
instance. 

Who of us is ignorant of the fact, that the conditions of 
his probation have been influenced most materially by the 
character of his parents ? Their virtue, their self-denial, 
their example, has given you a position which, under oppo- 
site circumstances, you never could have held. Had your 
parents been dishonest, intemperate, degraded, would not 
your condition have been far less favorable than it is ? I do 
not say that in either case your destiny would have been 
taken out of your own hands ; I only say that the circum- 
stances which I have mentioned, would have rendered the 
conditions of your probation either more or less favorable. 
But what had you to do with their character or actions ? 
Manifestly no more than you had with the character or 
actions of Adam. 

Again : let any man cast his eyes over our beloved country. 
Let him survey its fields loaded with harvests, its villages 
resounding with the hum of industry, its harbors crowded with 
shipping, and its cities becoming the markets of the world, and 
every where the rights of person and property protected by 
equal laws, and stilly more by a moral sentiment which has 
become a part of our social nature. Let him enter the family, 
and observe how closely virtue clings to the domestic hearth, 
and how strongly filial and parental affection bind together 
the members of the same household. Let him enter our 
schools, academies, and colleges, and take notice that the door 
8* 



90 THE FALL OF MAN. 

is thrown wide open to intellectual improvement, and that fa- 
cilities in abundance are every where afforded for the cultiva- 
tion of meritorious talent. Let him frequent the house of God, 
and observe in what manner, throughout our land, eveiy man 
is engaged in the worship of his Creator according to the dic- 
tates of his own conscience ; that the Bible is found in every 
house, and that the Sabbath school and the Bible class are 
instilling its blessed truth into minds of those of every age and 
of every condition. Having observed all this, let us ask why 
is it that our probation has been granted to us under circum- 
stances so favorable to moral improvement, and from the mil- 
lions of New England there will arise but one answer, — we 
owe it all to the piety, the intelligence, the earnest faith, and 
the self-denying energy, of our Puritan forefathers. But what 
had you or I to do with the character or actions of the Puri- 
tans ? Nothing. Yet it is owing to that character and those 
actions that our probation is passed under circumstances so 
eminently favorable. 

The illustrations of this principle are innumerable, for its 
application is universal. Our probation has been materially 
affected by the printing press. But what had we to do with the 
invention of the printing press ? The present age derives 
innumerable blessings from the invention of the mariner's 
compass. But who of us had any agency in the invention of 
the mariner's compass ? We all enjoy the advantages result- 
ing from the invention of the steam-engine. But what agency 
had any one living in the labors of the marquis of Worcester, 
of Watt, or of Fulton ? In fact, the conditions of our proba- 
tion, in instances that defy enumeration, are materially af- 
fected by the acts of those who have preceded us, while with 
these acts we have no more connection than with that act of 
our first parents by which we became sinners. 

Such, then, is the law of our constitution. It is manifestly a 
merciful law. On it alone depends our capability of social 
progress. Abolish it, and every generation of men, without 
advancing a single step, would stand immovably fixed in the 



THE FALL OF MAN. 91 

footprints of that which preceded it. Advancement in the arts 
and sciences, in wealth, power, and civilization, would be 
impossible. All our relations both with the past and the future 
would cease. History would become an unmeaning word. 
Society would be dissolved, and every human being become 
an isolated and solitary unit. Let it once be granted that no 
man's condition shall be affected by the actions of any other 
being, and the whole constitution under which we exist must 
be abolished ; and in what manner a better one could be 
established the objector himself must inform us. 

Such, at all events, is the law under which we are created. 
It seems to me a good and merciful law, absolutely necessary 
to our social and individual well-being. But you will observe 
that the conditions under which we were made sinners are 
only a particular instance under this general law. If, then, 
the law be wise, and good, and merciful, absolutely necessary 
to our well-being, why should we object to it in this particular 
instance ? 

Here, however, let me recur again to the distinction which 
I would ever bear in mind. We are not either virtuous 01 
happy simply because those who went before us were so. 
We are not either ignorant, vicious, or miserable, simply in 
consequence of the character of our ancestors. The law of 
which I speak merely asserts that our condition for becoming 
either the one or the other is more or less favorable in conse- 
quence of the acts and character of those who have preceded 
us. Every individual is still free to resist or conform to the 
tendencies by which he is surrounded. Our free agency is in 
neither case either destroyed or even affected. The New 
Englander is just as free to choose as the Hottentot. The 
descendant of the Puritans may resist all the influences that 
would train him to virtue, and become preeminently vile, while 
an example of virtue that shall attract the admiration of the 
world, may be produced on the banks of the Amazon, in the 
deserts of South Africa, or among the islands of the Pacific. 
The conditions of our probation alone are affected by this law ; 



92 THE FALL OF MAN. 

our own character remains by necessity dependent upon our 
own free will. 

Such, then, as it seems to me, is the explanation which the 
Bible offers of the acknowledged fact of man's universal sin- 
fulness. It teaches us that God created man innocent. He, 
however, created him a moral agent, and placed him on earth 
to form a character for eternity under circumstances as favor- 
able as could be conceived for attaining to everlasting life by 
his own obedience ; and he established a constitution by which 
the conditions of the probation of those who should succeed 
should be rendered either more or less favorable by the acts 
and character of those who preceded them. Under these cir- 
cumstances our first parents sinned ; and the conditions of our 
probation are rendered less favorable than theirs at the begin- 
ning ; less favorable, indeed, to such a degree, that every one 
of us, as soon as he becomes capable of moral action, becomes 
a sinner. 

It may, however, be asked, Why did not the Deity, by some 
merciful agency, so influence man that his fall might have 
been prevented ? To this I know not that any answer can be 
returned. It is not to be expected that we shall be able to 
fathom the depths of the wisdom and goodness of the Eternal. 
It may be that this could not have been done without infringing 
upon the limits of the free agency with which he has endowed 
us. It evidently did not originate in any want of love to man. 
The same page that records the history of our fall and the 
sentence of our condemnation, reveals to us the wonderful fact 
that " God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." " He that spared not his own Son, but 
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely 
give us all things ? " Here, surely, a devout mind may rest 
satisfied. 

What, then, in conclusion, are the practical reflections that 
this discussion should bring home to the bosom of every 
individual ? 



THE FALL OF MAN. 93 

1. While I have been speaking of the probation of Adam, 
has it not occurred to every one of you that his condition and 
ours are similar in more respects than we had at first supposed ? 
The law of God, the free agency of man, the nature of 
temptation, and the motives to holiness, are the same in the 
circumstances of both. One all-important fact alone distin- 
guishes the character of his probation from ours. Under the 
dispensation of law, to which he was amenable, one sin was 
decisive of his destiny. To us, under the dispensation of the 
gospel, a way of salvation is revealed which extends the hope 
of eternal life throughout the whole period of our probation. 
No matter how much we have sinned, — we have a High Priest 
who is able to save even to the uttermost. " He that belie veth 
on the Son hath everlasting life." It is under such merciful 
conditions that we are now passing our probation. 

2. How infinitely momentous is the condition of an immor- 
tal being endowed with the gift of free will ! The good and 
the evil are set before him. Eternal life and eternal death are 
both placed within his reach, and, as he puts forth his hand 
either to the one or to the other, he seals his destiny forever. 
Such is the condition of every child of Adam. When we 
urge you to seek the salvation of your souls, to turn from the 
love of the world to the love of God, to become new creatures 
in Christ Jesus, we know that the weight of this solemn re- 
sponsibility rests upon each one of you. Let each one of us 
bring this thought home to his own heart, and cherish it there 
until it bring forth its legitimate results. A being thus situ- 
ated has no right to trifle with himself. Procrastination under 
such circumstances, when our probation may close at any 
moment, is suicide far worse than madness. Be not, I pray 
you, guilty of such wickedness. Arouse yourselves to a true 
conception of your condition, your responsibility, and your 
infinite destiny. Say not, " Go thy way for this time ; when 
I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. " " Behold, 
now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salva- 
tion." 



JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS 
IMPOSSIBLE. 



"Therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh 
be justified in his sight." 

Romans iii. 20. 

These words express the conclusion at which the apostle 
arrives after a full investigation into the character and condi- 
tion of man. 

In the previous portion of his Epistle, he had exposed the 
universal and intense sinfulness both of the Jews and Gen- 
tiles, and the utter inexcusableness of both, inasmuch as all 
had sinned against clear and adequate light. He sums up the 
argument in the words of the text — " Therefore by the deeds 
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight ; for by 
the law is the knowledge of sin." 

By the term " deeds of the law," we are to understand 
those deeds which the law commands. By " flesh " is meant 
human nature, the whole race of man. The word "justified" 
is susceptible of two meanings. It may indicate that he who is 
accused is declared innocent of crime, " rectus in curia" as 
by a judicial tribunal, when he has been proved guilty of no 
wrong. Secondly, it may mean, to be treated as though he 
were just, although he be not innocent ; as, for instance, when 
a man is freely pardoned, all proceedings against him being 
quashed, and he is restored to the standing of a just man. It 
is in this sense that the word is used, when men, who by 
acknowledgment are guilty, are declared to be justified by 



JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 9o 

faith. The text evidently uses the word in the former of these 
two significations. It speaks of justification through the deeds 
of the law, that is, through the doing of those deeds which the 
law requires. If a man does all that the law requires, he may 
manifestly plead the law in justification. He may demand 
that it declare him innocent on his own merits. It can have 
no further demand upon him, and he is as free of it as though 
it had never existed. The assertion of the text, then, is, that 
our whole race, and, of course, every individual of it, is inca- 
pable of ever being justified on the ground of having kept the 
requirements of the moral law of God. 

This assertion of the apostle may be easily illustrated by a 
brief reference to some of those declarations of the Scriptures 
which we have previously considered. 

1. The Bible declares that the moral law, under which we 
have been created, commands us to love the Lord our God 
with all our heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This, 
as we have reason to suppose, is the law which is extended 
over the whole moral universe. Sin is the transgression of this 
law. The wages of sin — that is, what it deserves — is death. 
Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, are upon every 
soul of man that doeth evil. This law is declared to be holy 
and just, and good ; that is, in perfect harmony with the 
attributes of the most high God. 

2. The Scriptures assert that man is destitute of that love 
which the law of God requires ; and that, in the place of it, 
he cherishes a spirit of enmity to his Maker. " I know you," 
saith Christ, ' ; that ye have not the love of God in you." We 
do not like to retain God in our knowledge. Nay, more : " the 
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the 
law of God, neither indeed can be." Instead of being filled 
with the love of man, we are declared to be filled with envy, 
deceit, malignity, and every evil passion." The constitution of 
civil society every where proceeds upon the assumption that 
men are selfish, faithless, violent, and cruel, and laws are 
every where made to counteract these hateful tendencies. 



96 JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 

3. The Scriptures go farther, and reveal to us our moral 
condition with still greater precision. They teach us that the 
conditions of our probation were made contingent upon the 
obedience or disobedience of our first parents. They diso- 
beyed God, and their character became sinful. The condi- 
tions of our probation became thus less favorable, so that we 
find man every where a sinner as soon as he begins to act 
under moral responsibility. Thus we. see that sin is not an 
accident to which a part of mankind are exposed, but a uni- 
versal fact in human nature. " By one man, sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin, and so death has passed upon all 
men, in that all have sinned." 

Such are the declarations of Scripture, and to the truth of 
them our own consciousness bears undoubted testimony. As 
soon as any one of us begins to compare himself with the 
law under which he is created, or even with the imperfect 
moral standard held forth by his own conscience, he ac- 
knowledges himself a sinner, coming short of the praise of 
God. Nor does any one find himself alone in this condition. 
He is surrounded by just such beings, an inhabitant of a world 
lying in wickedness. Examples of sin abound on every side. 
Men find their passions too powerful for the control of con- 
science ; they are led captive by sin, and are clearly destitute 
of those affections which are justly required of us by our 
Father who is in heaven. So deeply rooted is the conviction 
of our universal sinfulness, that if a man, in any age or coun- 
try, should believe himself entirely free from sin, we should 
either look upon him as a superhuman being, or else, by uni- 
versal consent, pronounce him insane. 

And, if any man entertain any remaining doubt on this 
subject, we would suggest a single practical test, by which he 
may easily satisfy himself. Let him reflect upon the character 
of God, and our relations and obligations to him, as they 
are revealed in the Scriptures, or even indicated by natural 
religion. Let him form some conception of the love, the ven- 
eration, the obedience, which such a creature should exercise 



JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. U/ 

towards such a Creator, and then let him honestly make the 
attempt to exercise these affections. Let him retire from the 
business of the world, enter his closet, and hold with his 
Creator such communion as is meet for a child of the dust to 
hold with his Father in heaven ; and let him maintain this 
temper through life. Let any man fairly make this experi- 
ment, and I think he will have but little reason to entertain a 
doubt respecting the moral character of his heart. With the 
apostle, he will exclaim in despair, " The law is holy, but I am 
carnal, sold under sin." 

Now, such being the statements of the Scriptures respecting 
the law of God and the moral character of man, the conclusion 
in the text is irresistible. The law requires that he love God 
with all his heart. How can it declare him guiltless, when he 
has not the love of God in him, much less when his mind is at 
enmity with God ? The law declares that the wages, the equi- 
table desert of sin, is death. How can it, in the same breath, 
declare him, who is by acknowledgment a sinner, innocent, 
and therefore deserving of eternal life ? You see that these 
two assertions are absolute contradictions. If the law justly 
require us to love God with all our heart, and we are at 
enmity with him, we must be under condemnation. In this 
direction, then, there is no possibility of escape. Every 
mouth must be stopped, and the whole world lie guilty 
before God. 

So much as this, I think, has, with different degrees of dis- 
tinctness, been very generally conceded. Men, both pagan 
and Christian, confess themselves sinners, if they admit a single 
moral principle. Hence the universality of the feeling of 
human guiltiness, and the dread of the judgments of God, as 
the desert of transgression. But here the question arises — Are 
there not some means in our power by which we may make 
reparation for our sins, so that, although we are guilty, we may 
yet, by our own doings, escape the condemnation to which we 
are exposed ? Since we cannot be justified on the ground of 
innocence, may we not by our own merits, or sacrifices, 
" 9 



9S JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 

present a claim to be treated as just, and thus inherit ever- 
lasting life ? 

This question, from the beginning, has deeply agitated the 
human soul. The confession of sinfulness is the unbidden 
utterance of every man's conscience. The agitated spirit was 
hence impelled to devise some means by which the conscious- 
ness of guilt might be removed and the fear of retribution 
allayed. The first expedient, which seems universally to have 
suggested itself, was the offering of expiatory victims. Hence, 
among the fathers of our race, sacrifices were numbered among 
the duties of almost daily observance. Thus Abel offered to God 
of the firstlings of his flocks. Job, when his children had been 
feasting, offered a sacrifice for each one of them. Abraham, 
wherever he pitched his tent in his pastoral migrations, builded 
an altar, and offered upon it a victim. Thus, when, by the 
command of God, the Jewish theocracy was established, almost 
all things were purified with blood, and without the shedding 
of blood there was no remission. Morning and evening the 
sacrifice smoked upon the altar for the daily offences of the 
people, while the trespass of every individual was acknowl- 
edged by an expiatory offering. The idea shadowed forth in 
all these observances was the same. The worshipper acknowl- 
edged that he was a sinner. He offered, as a victim, the most 
valuable thing that he possessed, in the place of himself, in the 
hope that the Deity would accept of the substitute, and that the 
wrath which he had incurred might be appeased by the immo- 
lation of a brute. 

This idea, however, was by no means confined to the 
children of Abraham. It seems to have been as universal 
as our race itself. You all remember the hecatomb offered 
by the Greeks, when they desired to appease the wrath of 
Apollo whose priest, Agamemnon, their king, had insulted ; and 
throughout the whole range of classical poetry, from the epic 
of Homer to the lyrics of Horace, nothing more frequently 
meets us than allusions to sacrifices intended to render placa- 
ble the gods when offended by the past, or to propitiate their 



JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 99 

favor when their aid was deemed specially needful for the 
future. Jupiter, Apollo, Bacchus, Juno, Minerva, and Mars, 
had each his appropriate offerings and appointed priesthood, 
and each was worshipped with mingled feelings of doubt or 
confidence, and, it may possibly be, in some cases, with some 
imperfect sentiment of solemn adoration. 

But this feeling of the human heart did not even thus exhaust 
itself. On occasions of more than usual solemnity, and in 
times of unwonted emergency, even human victims were 
sometimes offered up. Such was the case in seasons of 
wasting pestilence, always supposed to be an indication of the 
divine displeasure. Sometimes a captive, taken in battle, was 
deemed a sufficient atonement. At other times, the choicest 
specimen of humanity that the nation could select was doomed 
to bleed upon the altar. Thus the history of the early age of 
the Hebrew commonwealth records the sad narrative of the 
sacrifice of Jephtha's daughter ; and Grecian tragedy has select- 
ed for one of its most affecting representations the intended 
offering up of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon. 

But such an expedient as this inevitably loses its efficacy as 
soon as man listens to the voice of his own consciousness. 
He then feels that guilt is a personal thing, an affection of the 
spirit, and that he himself is a sinner. It is he, in his own 
person, that must answ T er at the bar of offended justice. Guilt 
cannot be transferred to a brute, nor can it at will be laid upon 
the conscience of another. The brute has no moral life ; it 
can neither keep the law nor break it, and can never assume 
the responsibility which belongs solely to an immortal spirit. 
Hence the worshipper returned from the sacrifice unsatisfied 
and unblessed. The Jew, though performing the rites appointed 
by the Most High, confessed that it was not possible that the 
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. The pagan 
retired from the flowing libation and the smoking hecatomb 
bearing about within him a conscience still burdened with the 
guilt of unpardoned sin. The controversy between the spirit 
and its Creator was still unadjusted. The power of sin 



100 JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 

remained unbroken within him, and his soul was, as before, 
self-condemned and despairing. 

And hence it came to pass that, long before the time of 
Christ, confidence in the whole system of sacrifices was rapidly 
passing away, before the progress of intellectual culture. I 
do not say that sacrifices were not offered. Unless this had 
been done, the nations had sunk into atheism. They had, 
however, lost all moral power over- the minds of thinking 
men. The educated classes externally conformed to the 
popular belief for the sake of enforcing upon the common 
people the notion of a superintending Providence. The com- 
mon people worshipped as their fathers had worshipped before 
them. At the era of the introduction of Christianity, the moral 
efficacy of such sufferings had ceased, and their inability to 
restore peace to a wounded spirit was universally felt. 

This, however, belongs to a time that has passed away. A 
reference to it is, however, not without its utility, inasmuch as 
it reveals to us a universal human sentiment, and illustrates the 
course of action to which that sentiment so generally led. 

Another view of this subject has been frequently taken by 
those who have been conscious of the guilt of sin. They have 
supposed that reparation to the violated law might be made by 
repentance and reformation. This idea would naturally sug- 
gest itself to a thoughtful mind, earnestly inquiring for recon- 
ciliation with God. It has at all times sought to ingraft itself 
upon Christianity, and thus render needless the atoning sacri- 
fice of Christ. As the consequences, both theoretical and 
practical, which result from it, are important, I will examine it 
with as much care as the remaining time allotted to this dis- 
course will allow. 

The doctrine in question is, I suppose, essentially this : 
Although man be a sinner, as the word of God declares him 
to be, yet, by repentance and reformation, he may make 
such reparation as will entitle him to be treated as just or 
innocent ; and thus he may become justified by the works of 
the law. 



JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 101 

Repentance is the temper of mind which is appropriate to a 
moral agent who has done wrong. If a man have violated a 
good and righteous law, it becomes him to regret his action, to 
take the blame of it upon himself, to acknowledge the justice 
of the l&w, and submit himself, without reserve, to its enact- 
ments. He dislikes the act, not on account of the conse- 
quences which follow it, but on account of its own essential 
turpitude. 

Repentance towards God is nothing other than the exercise 
of these tempers of mind in view of our relations to him. 
We have sinned against him, and violated his holy law. If we 
repent, we regret our fault sincerely, and without reserve ; we 
take the blame of our conduct upon ourselves ; we abhor our- 
selves for our wrong doing, and acknowledge the equity of the 
law which condemns us. "Against thee, thee only have I 
sinned and done evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justi- 
fied when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." 
Now, if I understand the doctrine which we are considering, it 
declares that he who exercises this temper of mind is thereby 
justified, and, on this ground, may claim to be treated as 
though he had been innocent. 

On this subject I would offer a few obvious considerations. 

1. If this doctrine be true, it must proceed upon an entire 
change of the moral law. The law which the Scriptures have 
revealed is, that the wages of sin is death. This is its equita- 
ble desert. To declare, however, that if a man repents of his 
sin, he is entitled to justification, is to introduce another law, 
and to declare not that sin of itself is deserving of death, but 
only sin unrepented of. Now, I ask, where do we find the 
authority for announcing such a law ? Revelation does not 
teach it. The laws of civil society do not present any analo- 
gies which would lead us to believe it true. No government 
on earth could be administered upon this principle. I know 
well that the Scriptures abundantly promise that he who 
repents of his sins shall find mercy; but to me they seem 
with the utmost precision to declare that repentance is not the 
9* 



102 JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 

procuring cause of pardon, and that it can give the offender nc 
claim to the remission of sins. " We are justified freely by 
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
" In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the 
forgiveness of sins.'" " He hath made him to be sin (a sin- 
offering) for us, who himself knew no sin, that we might be 
made the righteousness of God" (righteous in the sight of 
God) " in him." Pardon for the race of man having thus 
been made possible by the work of the Messiah, Jt is freely 
offered to all who will repent and believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Repentance itself has no power to justify us ; it is 
only the condition on which the atonement of Christ is made 
available to the sinner. 

2. This doctrine would, as it seems to me, lead to new 
views of divine justice. If a sinner can claim justification at 
the hands of God in virtue of repentance, then there would 
seem but little distinction to exist between innocence and guilt. 
He who had kept the whole law without fault, and he who had 
broken every commandment through life, and at last repented 
of his sins, would both stand in the same moral condition 
before God ; both, on the ground of their own doings, being 
entitled to be treated as innocent. Now, if this be true, the 
desert of sin could not be death, but only of sin unrepented of. 
Sin repented of, and innocence, would both deserve the same 
treatment. I cannot persuade myself that the Scriptures pre- 
sent this view of our relations to God. 

3. If this doctrine be true, we should, I think, believe that 
God himself entertained no moral displeasure against sin, but 
only against sin unrepented of. The announcement of his 
law would seem to be, that holiness and sin repented of were 
equally lovely in his sight, inasmuch as they were by his law 
entitled to the same reward. The Deity would thus seem to 
entertain less abhorrence to sin than the penitent himself. 
The penitent acknowledges that his whole life has been mor- 
ally loathsome ; that, on account of it, he deserves to suffer the 
penalty of the law ; while, upon this supposition, God is repre- 



JUSTIFICATION BY WOUKS IMPOSSIBLE. 103 

sented as assuring him that there is nothing deserving of 
punishment in sin, but only in unrepented sin ; and that now, 
since he has repented, he may make the same claim to justifi- 
cation as if he had ever been innocent. I by no means 
suppose that these sentiments are entertained by those who 
be'ieve the doctrine in question. I merely assert that these 
are the consequences to which, as it seems to me, the doctrine 
by necessity leads. 

And, lastly, were this the law of the divine dispensation, I 
think that it would defeat its own object ; for, were this the 
law, repentance would be impossible. 

Repentance can only arise from a conviction of the moral 
turpitude of sin ; it is an abhorrence of the act purely on 
account of its moral wrong. But, upon the supposition in 
question, sin itself is not wrong, or odious in the sight of God, 
but only sin unrepented of. But, if the act itself be not mor- 
ally detestable, of what is there for us to repent? We are to 
be penitent not for the act, but for our impenitence, while 
penitence itself is impossible, because the act is not in itself 
worthy of condemnation. 

As soon as we abstract from an act its desert of the 
displeasure of God, there is no need of any change of mind 
towards it ; and sorrow for it cannot possibly exist. It may 
be said that we may be soriy for the consequences ; but then 
this is not repentance, nor is it at all a moral exercise. To 
expect that this would justify us, would be to declare that a 
man should be treated as innocent, as soon as he became 
afraid of the consequences of his crime. 

To me, then, the Scriptures seem to assert that repentance 
can offer no atonement for sin. If the law be holy, and just, 
and good, it is holy, and just, and good, that it be enforced. 
If a man repent of his sins, this is right, and he shall have 
the advantage of it ; but under a system of law, this can 
make no reparation for past transgression. The man con- 
fesses that the law is just ; but this confession does not rendei 
it less just. He acknowledges that he deserves to perish : 



104 JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 

but. this docs not alter his desert. He still deserves the jus» 
award of his past guilt. " Therefore, by the deeds of the 
law can no flesh be justified, for by the law is the knowledge 
of sin." 

Such seems to me to be the result to which revelation leads 
us, considered as a system of law. Such was the dispensa- 
tion under which we were originally, created. But the con- 
ditions of this form of probation were violated originally by 
our first parents, and they have been violated by their descend- 
ants ever since. Hence, were there in the Scriptures no 
other announcement, the Bible would be to us nothing else 
than a sentence of universal condemnation. But, blessed be 
God ! it contains something else than condemnation. It is an 
offer of universal pardon to the race of man, through the 
mediation of Him who " loved us, and gave himself for us." 
As the conditions of our first probation were rendered void, 
and the commandment, which was ordained unto life, was 
found to be unto death, God provided for us a second proba- 
tion, established upon better promises. " God so loved the 
world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
This is the great message of eternal love to the lost and 
perishing race of man. It is in virtue of this atonement, made 
by the Messiah, that pardon and eternal life are now freely 
offered to every penitent believer. 

To reveal this great and astonishing truth is the great 
design of revealed religion. Natural religion intimated to us 
our sin, and dimly foreshadowed the doom of our transgres- 
sion. But from natural religion itself, — merely a system of 
law, — no news of reconciliation could proceed. It is the 
gospel of Jesus Christ alone that brings life and immortality to 
light. It is by Jesus Christ that we are justified from all 
things from which we could not be justified by the law of 
Moses. For the announcement of this great central truth, the 
whole previous history of our world was one magnificent 
preparation. For this end, empires arose, flourished, and fell. 



JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IMPOSSIBLE. 105 

To prepare the way for the Desire of all nations, seers fore- 
saw, and prophets foretold ; " for the testimony to Jesus is the 
spirit of prophecy." And when the second Adam, he who 
was thus, by his life and death, to change the terms of our 
probation, appeared, the blind saw, the lepers were cleansed, 
the dead were raised, the elements were stilled, and malig- 
nant spirits were obedient to his all-powerful word. All 
things, material and spiritual, did homage to him, " the bright- 
ness of the Father's glory," who had come by himself to 
purge away our sins. 

Although, then, by the deeds of the law no flesh can be 
justified, though of ourselves we are helpless and undone, 
yet we may not despair, " for our help is laid upon one that 
is mighty," one who is able to save to the uttermost every one 
that belie veth. " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners." The way of life is just as open to us as the way 
of death. The blessed message to every one of us is, 
u Whosoever will, let him come and take of the fountain 
of the water of life freely." If, then, any of us should finally 
perish, it will not be because we are sinners, nor because we 
had ruined ourselves, but, in addition to all this, because we 
have rejected the gift of eternal life freely offered to us in the 
gospel. 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF 
THE MESSIAH. 



PART I 



" When the fclness of time was come, God sent forth his Son." 

Galatians iv. 4. 

"The world by wisdom knew not God." 

1 Corinthians i. 21. 

The Scriptures, my brethren, distinctly teach us that our 
race was at the beginning placed under a system of proba- 
tion ; that the conditions of that probation were not only 
equitable, but merciful ; that these conditions were violated 
by our first parents ; and that, in consequence of that event, 
every one of their descendants has been voluntarily sinful ; 
and hence, that, by the deeds of the law, — that is, on the 
ground of our obedience to its precepts, — no flesh can be 
justified ; but that every one of us is, on account of his own 
transgressions, justly exposed to its righteous condemnation. 

Viewed in this light alone, nothing can be more appalling 
than the condition of humanity. We are all sinners. We 
choose to be sinners. Not liking to retain God in our knowl- 
edge, we have surrendered ourselves to the dominion of our 
own passions. We do this in opposition to all the instructions 
and all the warnings both of nature and revelation. " We 
know our duty, but we do it not." The moral law, under 
which we were created, and which, in every act, we have 
/iolated, is holy, and just, and good ; and therefore it is 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 107 

unchangeable. Its requirements cannot be abated, nor can its 
sanctions be abrogated. Supposing, then, that no other terms 
of probation could be offered to us, the law must take its 
course, and we must sink without remedy under its unmiti- 
gated curse. 

Were this all, were we still " under the law," — to use the 
language of St. Paul, — sad would be the revelation presented 
to us in the Holy Scriptures. It could do nothing more than 
make manifest to us the wrath of God " revealed from heaven 
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Like 
the roll of the prophet Ezekiel, it would be " written within 
and without with mourning, and lamentation, and woe." It 
could do nothing more than lift that veil which hides from our 
view the dwellings of the lost, and bid us listen to the despair- 
ing blasphemies which ascend without ceasing from the bot- 
tomless abyss. 

Such would be to our sinful race a revelation of simple 
law. But, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift, such 
is not our hopeless case. God has revealed himself to us, in 
the gospel of his Son, as a u God forgiving iniquity, transgres- 
sion, and sin." In infinite mercy he has granted to us a new 
probation, and has provided for us a new covenant, established 
upon better promises. To a race by their sin shut out from 
all hope of eternal life, — " for by the deeds of the law shall no 
flesh be justified," — he has made the offer of free, full, univer- 
sal pardon. To men steeped in sin he has made known a 
way of restoration to purity, holiness, and eternal life. I say 
restoration, but this word expresses but a part of the truth, for 
God has done infinitely more. He has promised to raise those 
of our race, who accept of the terms of reconciliation freely 
offered to all, to blessings vastly greater than those which have 
been lost by our apostasy. " God so loved the world that he 
gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." The believer 
enters heaven, not in the image of the first, but of the second 
Adam. He pauses not at the outer court of the temple made 



108 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

without hands, but entereth within the veil, " whither the fore- 
runner has for us entered, even Jesus, made a High Priest 
forever after the order of Melchisedek." 

The great object of the New Testament is to teach us the 
means by which this change in the conditions of our probation 
was effected, and the manner in which we may avail ourselves 
of its advantages. 

But the inquiry will readily suggest itself to every thought- 
ful mind, Why was not this way of salvation made known to 
man as soon as he had apostatized ? Why was not the remedy 
administered as soon as the existence of the disease was dis- 
covered ? I answer, The purpose to redeem our race was 
formed in the counsels of Eternity. A mysterious intimation 
was given in the garden of Eden, that though all was lost, yet, 
in the unfathomable wisdom and mercy of God, all was not 
irrecoverably lost. u Her seed shall bruise thy head," were the 
enigmatical words in which were wrapped up the promise of 
our final victory over all the powers of evil. To the parents 
of our race they must have been but imperfectly understood ; 
yet they shed down a ray of hope upon the thick darkness 
which enveloped us. He who uttered them, alone compre- 
hended the fulness of the blessing which he purposed to con- 
fer upon our race, and he then commenced, and he has ever 
since continued, that course of administration which has for 
its object the regeneration of our world, and the giving unto the 
Messiah " the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for his possession.'" 

Ages now rolled away. A world was drowned by a flood. 
A second parentage was selected for our race. Empires rose, 
nourished, declined, and were forgotten. Other empires, to 
whom even the record of the existence of their predecessors 
had never been handed down, arose upon their ruins. These 
again nourished, declined, and were forgotten. Age after age 
stumbled on in darkness, and, in quick succession, groped their 
way downward to the regions of despair. Four thousand 
years had each presented its myriads before the bar of God, 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 109 

and yet the destiny of our race, to all but an insignificant 
tribe, remained shrouded in impenetrable darkness. Sages 
and philosophers had looked on every side for light, but still 
they gazed upon nothing but starless midnight. At length 
" the morning star took his station over the stable of Bethle- 
hem." The day dawned. The Sun of righteousness arose 
with healing in his beams, and discovered to an astonished 
world the gates of heaven thrown wide open to every one 
that believeth in Jesus. 

But, even here, we naturally ask, Why was this delay ? Why 
did not the Messiah appear at an earlier period, and at once put 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself? To this question various 
satisfactoiy answers might, I think, be returned. It might be 
said that this was a question to which our reason offered no 
means of solution ; or it might be suggested that he who, in 
boundless mercy, provided for us such a way of salvation, would, 
also, in the exercise of the same mercy, select the most 
appropriate time for revealing it to us. Or, again, it might be 
said that perhaps God chose to exhibit to the moral universe 
the evils of sin, and hence he suffered it for ages in our world 
to work out its legitimate results. The text, however, suggests 
a reason at once definite and satisfactory ; it teaches us that 
when the fulness of time was come, or, as perhaps we, using 
another illustration, should say, when eveiy thing was ripe 
for this august event, God sent forth his Son. From these 
words we learn that before the Son of God could be sent, there 
must be a preparation made for his appearing. A connected 
series of intellectual, social, and moral changes must take 
place, before the coming of Christ could produce its intended 
results. Until these preliminary events had transpired, the 
Messiah could not, in accordance with the all -wise purposes 
of God, appear. When, however, this preparatory work had 
been accomplished ; when, in the words of the text, the ful- 
ness of time had come ; at the veiy moment selected by 
infinite wisdom, — " then God sent forth his Son, made of a 
woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were 
10 



110 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

under the law, that we might receive the adoption of 
sons." * 

If now we consider this subject somewhat more attentively, 
several views will readily present themselves. 

In the first place, then, we observe that the word of God 
had proclaimed the universal sinfulness of man, and the moral 
corruption of our whole race, and had declared that by the 
deeds of the law no flesh could be justified. It seems to have 
formed a part of the plan of the Deity to subject mankind to 
the test of experiment ; so that it might be evident to the 
whole universe that his assertion was true ; and that thus a 
practical demonstration might be given of the necessity of the 
work of redemption in order to our salvation. 

For this purpose man was left in general to the light which 
he had received from the beginning. To this was added, in 
the Gentile world, the teaching of natural religion ; while to 
the Jews was superadded the teaching of a written revelation. 
For four thousand years our race was left to these moral 
influences, that it might be seen whether any would " feel after 
God, though he was not far from any one of them." The ex- 
periment showed conclusively that the word of God was true to 
the letter, that men " did not like to retain God in their knowl- 
edge ; " and, yet more, that " the thoughts of the imaginations 
of their hearts were only evil continually." 

During these four thousand years, there appeared, as I have 

* When I here speak of the necessity of preparation in order to 
accomplish a purpose of the Almighty, I trust I am understood. 
There is nothing here said which is intended to signify any limita- 
tion to the absolute power of the Almighty. He might, if he had 
chosen, have abolished all the intellectual and social laws to which 
man was subjected, and have established new ones. This would, 
however, have been to create man anew. What is meant is simply 
this — that, the laws existing as they were at the beginning, such a 
preparation was necessary in order to the accomplishment of the 
purposes supposed. It is not, therefore, meant that God could not 
have done otherwise, but that he could not have done otherwise 
without abolishing the laws which he had established. 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. Ill 

said, no tendency in man to grow better. There had been 
formed no true or even rational conception of the Godhead. 
The ignorance of the character of the Deity, and of our 
relations to him, which overspread our race, became, age 
after age, more profound. Moral corruption, at once the cause 
and the effect of this ignorance, became more and more 
intense, until, at the time of the advent of the Messiah, the 
world had attained to a preeminence in wickedness such as 
no period, either before or since, has ever witnessed. 

I do not, however, affirm that this course of moral dete- 
rioration was in the line of straight and uniform descent. 
From the nature of the case, this could not be, since, then, the 
race would have perished from the unrestrained indulgence 
of every evil passion. The process was in fact something 
like the following. In infancy, poverty, and feebleness, nations 
are comparatively virtuous. They cannot be otherwise, since 
the struggle for existence leaves no leisure to listen to the 
seductions of vice, and consciousness of inferiority renders 
successful aggression hopeless. But, with progress of wealth 
and power, the means of vicious gratification stimulate the 
passions of the human mass. Sensuality, even to loathsome- 
ness, corrupts the sentiments of the entire people, and gradu- 
ally expels every generous impulse. Selfishness usurps the 
place of patriotism. The insane love of pleasure, utterly 
reckless of consequences, becomes the ruling passion of the 
soul. The body politic is enfeebled by moral corruption, and 
the nation becomes the prey of some barbarous but less vicious 
horde. These, again, erect the standard of empire, and flourish 
on the ruins of a slaughtered or enslaved people. But they 
breathe an atmosphere already tainted with moral infection. 
They draw their nourishment from a soil poisoned by intense 
sensuality. The conquerors are in turn subdued by the vices 
of the conquered, and, by a quicker transition, become the 
slaves of luxury and vice ; until they themselves become the 
victims of another people, destined to pursue the same sad 
round of wickedness and retribution. Such was the history 



1 12 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

of the world for ages. Such would it be forever »vere not 
some moral force introduced from without to arrest its down- 
ward tendency. 

But, besides this general fact, it deserves more particularly 
to be remarked, that this experiment upon the moral character 
of man was made under every possible variety of circum- 
stances. In the first place, the legislators of antiquity were 
not unaware of this propensity in man to evil ; and they strove, 
by all the means which they could devise, to correct it. For 
this end, they constructed every conceivable form of govern- 
ment. Monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, were all tried, 
under every modification that the wit of man could suggest. 
Power over man was lodged in the hands of the one, of the 
few, or of the many. All these expedients were found .equally 
and totally ineffectual. There seemed but little difficulty in origi- 
nating a form of government, which, under favorable external 
circumstances, might raise a poor and industrious people to 
power and wealth ; but the attainment of this very object 
seemed to render their downfall inevitable. The moral ten- 
dency was towards deterioration. The mass gravitated to the 
earth, and by no change in its form could you either check its 
progress, or arrest the operation of that law by which it was 
evidently governed. 

Legislation, then, during this long interval, seemed to have 
ended in nothing but failure. It could offer no successful 
resistance to this propensity to evil. Thus it became evident, 
that no system of laws, and no constitution of government, had 
power either to elevate the tone of private morals, or to foster 
such attainments in public virtue, as could save them from 
dissolution. Hence it was demonstrated that hope from the 
principles of our social nature was not to be expected ; and 
that, unless help should arise from some other source, the con- 
dition of our race was desperate, and our moral reformation 
impossible. 

But this was not the only trial to which the moral character 
of our race was subjected. During these ages of political 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 113 

change, the human mind, in many nations, had made aston- 
ishing acquirements in the power of philosophical research. 
From the time of Pythagoras to that of Socrates, especially 
among the Greeks, men had ceased not to inquire for the rea- 
son of the facts, physical, intellectual, and moral, which were 
transpiring around them. Questions were continually asked 
concerning the character of the Deity, and our relations and 
obligations to him. During this long interval, however, while 
an increasing multitude of educated men were directing their 
attention to subjects of spiritual philosophy, they continued, age 
after age, to wander farther and farther from the truth. This 
downward tendency reached its lowest level at the period of 
the intellectual reign of the sophists, — a name which has ever 
since been synonymous with treachery and falsehood. Setting 
aside, as worse than useless, all questions of practical duty, 
their only object was to cultivate the intellect to the highest 
refinement of subtlety, that so it might become more exqui- 
sitely skilful in the arts of deception and intrigue. They 
boasted of their ability to prove the same act to be either 
right or wrong, wise or unwise, true or false, as occasion might 
require. Hence they baptized the intellect itself in falsehood, 
and subverted, at their foundation, the very principles of virtue. 
Thus philosophy, which was designed to lead men to truth, to 
goodness, and to piety, became the unblushing pander to vice. 
It not only darkened counsel by words without knowledge, but 
it steeped the conscience itself in corruption, — a corruption the 
more incurable, because it seemed to flow from the sources 
which Nature herself had opened in the fountains of the human 
understanding. 

It was at this eventful period that Socrates appeared, who, 
with a self-sacrificing earnestness which indicated a pure love 
of virtue, combatted the enormous errors of his age. From 
the things that are made, he proved the existence and attributes 
of their Maker. From the character of God, he taught men, 
in many respects, the relations which they sustain to him. 
Attacking the sophists of Athens, sometimes by argument and 



114 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

sometimes by ridicule, he was exposing them to the contempt 
which they merited, when his life was cut off by an act of 
judicial murder. The philosopher died, but his sentiments 
still lived. They inspired with new life the mind of Plato, a 
name destined to enduring immortality. The intellect of this 
remarkable person was perhaps more preeminently gifted than 
that of any man who has ever devoted his attention to spiritual 
inquiry. To an acuteness which nothing could elude, a taste 
which found its models in its own faultless conceptions, he 
added an imagination, which, in the opinion of the first critic 
of antiquity, has entitled him to the rank of the Homer of 
prose. His discourses are, at the present day, to be numbered 
among the choicest specimens of composition that the human 
mind has produced. But, if I do not mistake, he was wanting 
in the simple humility and virtuous earnestness of his master, 
and hence his splendid talents were too much directed to the 
purpose of displaying their own magnificence. Truth, virtue, 
duty, nay, the character of the Deity itself, became matters of 
refined, abstruse, though glorious, speculation. The guide- 
post which Socrates had erected, was entwined so thickly with 
roses, that it was difficult to discover the direction in which it 
pointed. The path which he had opened was planted so 
densely with shrubbery, it was adorned so profusely with 
statues and shrines, that the wayfarer was bewildered in a 
labyrinth of beauty ; and, pausing so frequently to admire, 
forgot the object for which his journey had been commenced. 
To Plato succeeded Aristotle, a name which ruled the 
human mind with undisputed sway, in many departments of 
science, from his own era to that of Bacon, and of which the 
influence is acknowledged even to the present day. Endowed 
with but little imagination, he was, perhaps, the most clear-sighted 
reasoner the world has ever seen ; while in amplitude of learn- 
ing, exactitude of inquiry, and power of philosophic generali- 
zation, succeeding ages have rarely furnished his equal. He 
so expounded the doctrines and perfected the sciences of 
logic and rhetoric, that, as they fell from his hand, so they 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 115 

have remained, almost without addition or alteration, through 
the lapse of more than two thousand years. The existing knowl- 
edge of physical science was moulded into shape by his plastic 
hand, while it received vast additions from his scrutinizing 
investigations. But while Science thus gratefully acknowledges 
her obligations to the philosopher of Stagira, religion owes him 
no homage. In no respect, that I am aware of, did he enlarge 
our knowledge of God, or of our relations and obligations to 
him. It is true he taught the world wisdom. He explained 
to us the laws in obedience to which the mind advances in the 
pursuit of truth or in the detection of error ; and he unfolded 
those canons of criticism which enter even now into our course 
of collegiate study ; but he taught us nothing concerning the 
way of deliverance from sin. He scattered light upon every 
path but that which leads us to God. If it had been in the 
power of the human intellect to regenerate the moral character 
of man, this regeneration would have been effected by Aris- 
totle. No man was ever possessed of a surer or wider mental 
vision. No man had ever a greater power of moulding the 
mind of following ages into the form of his own conceptions ; 
yet, in respect to religion, he left the race just where he found 
it. None of his precepts have ever, by their transforming 
energy, regenerated the souls of his disciples. No change 
from vice to virtue was ever known to follow the teaching of 
his doctrines. His works have been the chosen study of Pagan 
and Mohammedan, of Protestant and Catholic ; and every 
where they have stimulated the intellect, but they have left the 
moral nature untouched. They satisfied every aspiration of 
the understanding ; but when the sinner inquired, How shall 
man be just with God ? they gave him no answer. They found 
man under the bondage of sin, the slave of passion, drunk 
with sensuality; and they left him having no hope and with- 
out God in the world. 

I might easily pursue this subject farther, by presenting 
illustrations from other periods of civilization. But it is 
useless. The experiment, under what circumstances soever 



116 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

it has been tried, has led to the same result. Had it been 
possible to deliver man from the moral condition in which he 
is every where found, by any exertion of the human intellect, 
it would have been done by the men to whose labors I have 
just alluded. But it was not possible. The direction which 
the human intellect has always taken, confirms the truth of 
the declaration of St. Paul, — " The world by wisdom knew not 
God." Nay, we see, from the instances to which we have 
referred, that a true conception of the character of God, and 
of our relations and obligations to him, is distasteful to the 
human mind. Socrates taught more important truth on these 
subjects than all the other heathen writers combined. For 
doing this the common people persecuted him to death, and 
the philosophers whom he had taught, instead of pursuing his 
doctrines to their natural results, treated them merely as the 
starting-point for metaphysical speculations. Thus is also 
confirmed that other declaration of the apostle, " They did 
not like to retain God in their knowledge, but when they 
knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thank- 
ful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish 
heart was darkened.'" It thus became manifest that man did 
not sin by reason either of ignorance or of mental imbecility, 
and that no attainment of intellectual power could change his 
propensity to evil. Here, then, from another point of view, 
was made evident the helplessness of our moral condition ; 
and thus it was shown that, without some special effort of 
divine mercy, we must ever abide under the condemnation 
which we had incurred. 

But one other hope remained. It has been said that the 
moral and aesthetic elements of the human character are 
nearly allied, if, indeed, they be not identical ; that, at least, 
the beautiful and the good are twin sisters ; and hence it has 
been conjectured that the cultivation of the taste must lead to 
reformation in the moral nature of man. 

The period that elapsed previously to the advent of the 
Messiah, furnished an opportunity for the trial of this form 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 117 

of the moral experiment, of which we have been speaking. 
The age of Socrates, and Plato, and Aristotle, was the golden 
age of the arts of Greece. Neither before nor since this 
time, has the marble been ever chiselled into forms so instinct 
with majesty and loveliness. It is probable that painting had 
attained to similar perfection, though, unfortunately, none of 
its productions have come down to us. Architecture then 
had exhausted, in one direction at least, all the forms of 
beauty and grandeur of which the mind can conceive. Poetry 
had already furnished those faultless models of verse on 
which all succeeding generations have gazed with reverential 
despair. Eloquence then, with a power which has never 
since been equalled, 

"Wielded at will that fierce democracie, 
Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece 
To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne." 

But had this wonderful development of the taste any power 
to reform the moral character of man ? Far from it. Taste 
became itself the pander to vice. The very fountains of 
literature were defiled. Poetry became at last the stimulant 
to undisguised licentiousness. Painting and statuary lent 
their aid to render unblushing vice attractive, and to fascinate 
the taste with whatever could defile the conscience. The 
eye could scarcely be opened in any street of a Grecian or a 
Roman city, without resting upon some finished specimen of 
art, which filled the imagination with all that was morally 
revolting. Taste, revelling in licentiousness, presided over 
every department of the arts. Its dominion was not confined 
to places of public resort. It painted the walls of dressing- 
rooms and chambers ; it sculptured the statuary of private 
gardens ; nay, it fashioned personal ornaments of the young 
and old, of the daughter and the matron. And thus it became 
evident that taste, far from exerting any power of moral 
reformation, tainted with our own corruption, disseminates 
more widely, and renders yet more intensely fatal, the poison 
with which it is itself infected. 



118 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

Scholars and artists have mourned for ages over the almost 
universal destruction of the works of ancient genius. I sup- 
pose that many a second-rate city, at the time of Christ, pos- 
sessed a collection of works of surpassing beauty, which 
could not be equalled by all the specimens now existing 
that have yet been discovered. The Alexandrian library is 
believed to have contained a greater treasure of intellectual 
riches than has ever since been hoarded in a single city. 
These, we know, have all vanished from the earth. The 
Apollo Belvidere and the Venus de Medicis stand in almost 
solitary grandeur, to remind us of the perfection to which the 
plastic art of the ancients had attained. The Alexandrian 
library furnished fuel for years for the baths of illiterate 
Moslems. I used myself frequently to wonder why it had 
pleased God to blot out of existence these magnificent pro- 
ductions of ancient genius. It seemed to me strange that 
the pall of oblivion should thus be thrown over all to which 
man, in the flower of his age, had given birth. But the 
solution of this mystery is found, I think, in the remains of 
Herculaneum and Pompeii. We there discover that every 
work of man was so penetrated by corruption, every produc- 
tion of genius was so defiled with uncleanness, that God, in 
introducing a better dispensation, determined to cleanse the 
world from the pollution of preceding ages. As when all 
flesh had corrupted his way, he purified the world by the 
waters of a flood, so, when genius had covered the earth 
with images of sin, he overwhelmed the works of ancient 
civilization with a deluge of barbarism, and consigned the 
most splendid monuments of literature and art to almost 
universal oblivion. It was too bad to exist ; and he swept it 
all away with the besom of destruction. 

You see that for four thousand years this experiment was 
continued upon the moral character of man. The point to 
be determined was, as we have supposed, whether man, left 
to the conditions of his first probation, would ever recover 
himself from his apostasy from God. The experiment was 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 119 

tried under every form of government, under the most favor- 
able conditions for intellectual culture, and during the period 
of the most perfect development of human taste. But under 
none of these influences was there exhibited the remotest 
tendency to moral reformation. Hence it was practically 
demonstrated that " the world by wisdom knew not God ; " 
and that, without some merciful divine interposition, the con- 
dition of man was hopeless. It was at the close of this pro- 
tracted experiment, when Rome, following the example of 
Greece, had sunk into gross licentiousness ; when men had 
not only lost the knowledge of God, but had become univer- 
sally corrupt beyond all previous example ; when, as it would 
seem, nothing further remained but for God to destroy our 
race and blot out the memoiy of man forever, — it was then 
that the " fulness of time had come," that God sent forth his 
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to announce 
that a new probation had been granted to us, and to utter that 
astonishing truth, " God so loved the world that he sent his 
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." 

It was my original intention to have illustrated, at some 
length, the results of the moral trial to which the Jews were 
subjected previously to the advent of the Messiah. I have, 
however, already occupied the time ordinarily allotted to a 
discourse, and I will therefore allude to this part of the sub- 
ject in very few words. 

The same experiment was made upon the Jews as upon the 
Gentiles, but it was made under vastly more favorable cir- 
cumstances. They were selected and set apart from the 
idolatrous nations around them ; they were rendered a pecu- 
liar people by a burdensome but imposing ritual ; they were 
the sole depositaries of the law which God had given to our 
race ; and their history, from the time of the call of Abraham, 
was replete with most astonishing illustrations of the attributes 
of God, whether exhibited in judgment or in mercy. It was, 
however, essentially a dispensation of law. It declared the 



120 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

precept and the penalty, the reward for obedience and the 
punishment for sin. Its language was, " Indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that 
doeth evil ; but glory, and honor, and peace, to every man 
that worketh good." Having given these precepts, there it 
rested. 1 know that it also foreshadowed the blessings of the 
new dispensation ; but its teaching, in this respect, was enig- 
matical, and could have taken no permanent hold upon the 
national mind. It did not reveal the manner in which " God 
could be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." 
Hence, like the dispensation of natural religion, it was a dis- 
pensation of law, yet of law plainly and evidently set forth. 
It left man with a clear knowledge of his duty, to act with 
no other impulse than that derived from the consequences 
of his action. The failure that ensued cannot, as in the case 
of the Gentiles, be learned from the volumes of contempo- 
raneous literature, for in the case of the Hebrews such works 
do not exist. The apostle Paul, however, declares that, at 
his time, they had become even more corrupt than the hea- 
then themselves. While they boasted of their knowledge of 
the law, " through breaking the law they dishonored God," 
insomuch that "through them, the name of God was blas- 
phemed among the Gentiles." Thus it became evident that 
our whole race — Jew and Gentile — was under sin ; that 
hope of reformation, from any power within ourselves, was 
groundless ; and hence, in the words of the apostle, that 
" by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified." 

From this view of the subject, I think, then, that a reason 
may be discovered why the Messiah did not appear in the 
beginning to take away sin. The delay of his advent was 
for the purpose of rendering it practically evident that our 
moral condition, under a system of law, was helpless ; that 
there existed in our nature no recuperative energy ; that 
having broken loose from his obligations to God, the course 
of man was in the line of perpetual retrocession ; and that, 
without the introduction of some new condition into the 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 121 

elements of his probation, there remained for him nothing 
but a fearful looking for of judgment. When this had been 
made evident, under every phase, both of civilization and 
barbarism, under every form of government, and under 
every degree, both of intellectual and aesthetic development, 
then " the fulness of time had come, and God sent forth his 
Son." 

11 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF 
THE MESSIAH. 



PART II. 

" Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert 
a highway for our god. every valley shall be exalted, and 
every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked 

SHALL BE MADE STRAIGHT AND THE ROUGH PLACES PLAIN, AND THE 
GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED, AND ALL FLESH SHALL 
SEE IT TOGETHER, FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT." 

Isaiah xl. 3, 4. 

In the last discourse, I attempted to illustrate the doctrine 
that the advent of the Messiah could not have occurred imme- 
diately after the apostasy. Various events must have trans- 
pired before the fulness of time could come. Before God 
publicly interfered, if I may so say, with the conditions of the 
first probation, he chose to show by experiment that such inter- 
ference was necessary. It thus became evident that neither 
in the social, intellectual, nor aesthetic departments of human 
nature, did there exist the elements adequate to restore us to 
virtue and piety. Under all forms of government, through 
every grade of intellectual progress, and in the midst of the 
most successful cultivation of taste, man's moral tendency was 
ever downward, until he had arrived at so universal depravity, 
that the Deity, in ushering in a new dispensation, consigned to 
oblivion by far the greater part of the intellectual labors of 
preceding generations. 

In this manner was it practically demonstrated that a reme- 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 123 

dial dispensation was absolutely necessary. But these sugges- 
tions have by no means exhausted the subject. If we look at 
it from another point of view, we shall see that a positive 
preparation of the race itself was necessary, before the plan of 
redemption could be successfully revealed. This preparation 
was gradually going forward at the same time that our moral 
helplessness was so amply illustrated. It is to this series of 
events that the prophet alludes in the beautiful language which 
I have selected for the text. He represents the Messiah as a 
conquering prince appearing to take possession of his newly- 
acquired dominions. It was customary among Oriental nations 
to render such an occasion in the most signal manner impres- 
sive. Every road by which the conqueror was to proceed was 
put in perfect repair ; obstructions were all removed ; the 
valleys were exalted and the hills were levelled ; the crooked 
were made straight and the rough places smooth, so that, when 
the triumphant procession appeared, its progress might be 
wholly uninterrupted. Under this figurative language the 
prophet conveys to us the idea that before the glory of the 
Lord shall be revealed, all things must be put under requisition 
for the purpose of rendering the event more illustrious and its 
results more universal. In other words, we are thus taught 
that the previous history of our world was overruled by infinite 
wisdom with special reference to this event ; and that when the 
revolutions of four thousand years had completed this mighty 
preparation, the fulness of time arrived, and God sent forth 
his Son. 

In order to obtain a correct view of this subject, it will be 
proper to observe the conditions which seem necessary * to the 
successful promulgation of the gospel, and the manner in 
which these conditions were fulfilled in the history of the world 
previously to the advent of the Messiah. 

If we reflect upon the nature of the Christian revelation, I 

* The meaning of necessity, as here used, is explained in a note to 
the preceding sermon, p. 110. 



124 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

think we shall be convinced that its conceptions belong to an 
advanced period of civilization. It addresses itself, I may say, 
exclusively to the spiritual nature of man. But, in the earlier 
periods of our race, our conceptions are all from without ; they 
have to do almost exclusively with sensible objects. This is 
evident from the history of all language. Conceptions from 
within belong to a later period, and only appear in the progress 
of civilization. Hence the ideas made known to us in the 
New Testament could scarcely have been comprehended, 
until man had passed from the region of objective and become 
familiar with the region of subjective thought. The gospel has 
to do with thought, feeling, sentiment, motive, and all their 
various attributes ; and it could not be well understood until the 
mind of man had become somewhat at home in these con- 
ceptions. 

Nor is this all. The Christian religion addresses itself to the 
moral nature, the conscience of man. It is to this faculty that 
its commands are specially addressed. The harmony of its 
precepts with the law, originally written there, is one of the 
universal proofs of its authenticity. It is for the purpose of 
providing a remedy to the moral disorders of the soul, that the 
gospel is revealed. The need of this remedy can only be 
made evident as the universality and intensity of this disease are 
discovered. Hence 1 think it will be seen that a remedial dis- 
pensation would naturally be delayed, until the moral character 
of man, both individual and social, had been fully displayed ; 
and mankind had become in some degree capable of appre- 
ciating the facts thus presented to their notice. 

But, besides this, the gospel is a revelation communicated to 
man by language, and its authenticity, as is meet, is attested 
by miracles. Now, I think that considerable progress must have 
been made in civilization before such testimony could be given 
as we would be willing to receive on a question of so vital 
importance. Until the laws of nature are to some extent 
known, we cannot determine whether the Creator has or has 
not in a particular case departed from them. Savages, in these 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 125 

respects, possess but the intellect of children. They seem 
almost to court deception, and we admit their testimony with 
doubt and hesitation. Hence we pay very little respect to the 
early history of the primitive nations. An ignorant age is 
governed by the imagination rather than by the reason, and we 
look upon its traditions rather as allegorical pictures than indu- 
bitable statements of matters of fact. The fact here to be 
substantiated is no other than this — the Messiah, God manifest 
in the flesh, appeared on our earth to teach us the way of life, 
and to offer himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. 
I ask, Could any one believe so stupendous a statement as this, 
upon the testimony of a barbarous age ? 

And this leads us to observe, again, that a revelation from 
God to man, informing him of this wonderful change in the 
conditions of his probation, — a revelation designed for all ages 
to the end of time, and destined to work a perfect transformation 
in the moral character of our race, — could not have been com- 
pleted until language, that most mysterious of all the products 
of the human intellect, had arrived at a considerable degree of 
perfection. It was necessary that the doctrines and motives 
peculiar to the new dispensation should be promulgated with 
all possible explicitness, and yet guarded from all tendency 
either to incompleteness or excess. No medium of communi- 
cation would be competent to the transmission of such all- 
important truth, but a language capable of expressing the most 
delicate modifications of human thought ; and so perfect in its 
construction, that its meaning, in subsequent ages, might be 
determined by the most definite laws of exegetical inquiry. 

To understand the necessity of which we speak, it is only 
requisite to remember the ordeal through which the Christian 
revelation has passed during the period that has elapsed since 
the days of the apostles. There is scarcely a doctrine which 
it contains that has not frequently been made the subject of 
earnest, I had almost said of bitter controversy. Its enemies 
have denied the truth of every one of its assertions, and its 
professed friends have, in countless instances, endeavored to 
11* 



126 PREPARATION FOR THE AOVENT OF MESSIAH. 

interpret its doctrines in such manner as to gratify their ins, 
of civil or ecclesiastical power. Every atrocity, which has 
for ages been perpetrated by either lay or clerical despots 
throughout Christendom, has claimed the authority of some 
passage from the word of God. And, on the contrary, men 
have always been delivered from despotism by stripping off 
from the Scriptures the covering by which they had been 
veiled, and making them to speak out plainly the simple 
truth of the Most High. Now, unless the gospel had been 
revealed in a language capable of expressing the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and of so expressing it 
that the meaning of every word could be verified, it would 
surely, at this distance of time, have been scarcely possible for 
even a candid man to discover what had been really revealed. 
Suppose that, eighteen hundred years since, the Gospels had 
been written in a language similar to that of our aboriginal 
Indians, — who, at this age, would pretend to be able to interpret 
it ? Nay, I doubt if the doctrines of the New Testament could 
have been given to all subsequent ages, even in the ancient 
Hebrew. How could the subtle reasoning, and the wide 
generalizations of the apostle Paul, have been conveyed in a 
language which had attained its highest perfection in the time 
of Moses and of Job, and which was adapted only to an age 
of primitive manners and objective thought? Nay, had the 
revelation for all ages been delivered in Hebrew, I doubt 
whether, at this late period, its meaning could be verified. The 
Hebrew possessed no literature save that which existed in the 
sacred books themselves. Hence, when a difficulty in inter- 
pretation occurred, there would have been no contempora- 
neous authority to which we might appeal for illustration. I 
think that these considerations will be sufficient to convince us 
that this language was an inadequate medium for the trans- 
mission of a revelation that was destined to endure to the end 
of time, and, thus enduring, to regenerate a world. 

If we reflect upon these plain conditions, I think it will be 
evident that at no era preceding that of the advent could the 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 127 

new dispensation have been with so much propriety ushered 
in. And still more, I think that, by a slight reference to pre- 
vious events, we shall be led to believe that the hand of God 
may be distinctly traced in directing the course of civilization 
with respect to this great transaction. 

Amidst all the agitations of society, throughout all the over- 
turnings of empire, the human mind, during this long period, 
had been gradually attaining maturity. Each nation, during 
its brief existence, had either added something to the stock of 
human knowledge, or made some contribution to the materials 
for human thought. Every revolution had illustrated in some 
new phase the principles of conduct, and had bequeathed the 
lesson to succeeding generations. Prosperity and adversity, 
war and peace, despotism and freedom, anarchy and order, 
had tended to widen and deepen the course of philosophical 
speculation. The very wickedness of man, overturning em- 
pires and dissolving the cement by which the elements of 
society are held in cohesion, had obliged men to reflect more 
or less upon moral cause and effect. Patriotism, as well as 
natural virtue, nay, self-interest, as well as the love of right, 
had, to some extent, forced men to turn their eyes upon this 
changeless plague-spot of our common nature. The very love 
of power, so rife in all ages, had directed attention to those 
spiritual impulses by which all outward action is modified, and 
from which alone it frequently proceeds. From all these 
sources, the mind of man, at the time of our Savior, had be- 
come a subject of very general investigation ; and its various 
processes had been examined with acumen and earnestness. 
It is also probable that this kind of inquiry was prosecuted with 
greater vigor on account of the existing state of religious opin- 
ion among the ancient nations. The system of mythology- 
had long since lost its power over the public mind ; and hence 
the priesthood dared not protect it from contempt by the exer- 
tion of physical force. Let a man believe what he chose, or 
advocate what he pleased, in matters of pure science or intel- 
lectual speculation, the mythology had little to do with it. 



128 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

Hence the mind, left mainly to its own impulses, pursued 
thought wherever it led ; and hence arose that prodigious 
mental activity, that far-reaching love of research, that fearless 
range of speculation, which distinguished the Augustan age of 
Rome, but more especially the age of Pericles in Greece. 
Nay, Greece and Italy, during the universal prevalence of 
pagan idolatry, enjoyed the blessing of soul-liberty in a much 
higher degree than they have done for ages under the domin- 
ion of the (so called) Christian hierarchy, by which these 
nations have so long been enslaved. 

But while this progress was so rapidly made in the intel- 
lectual development of the ancient nations, specially of the 
Greeks, this latter people was, at the same time, cultivating, 
with unparalleled success a language which has been for ages 
the admiration of the human race. It is a language which 
scholars have ever since considered the most perfect vehicle 
of thought that human intelligence has yet invented. Com- 
bining the opposite extremes of strength and flexibility ; 
capable alike of fixing with precision the most refined dis- 
tinctions in metaphysics, and of giving utterance to the ten- 
derest emotions of sentiment; bursting forth now in all the 
thunder of resistless eloquence, and now warbling in numbers 
softer than the breathings of maternal love ; affording free 
scope to the giant spirit of Demosthenes, and yet yielding 
itself up to utter, as if in sport, the songs of Anacrcon ; in its 
youth pouring forth in matchless verse the epic of Homer, 
and in its manhood clothing the conceptions of Sophocles and 
Pindar with perennial beauty ; unexhausted by the boundless 
imagination of Plato, and yet laying down with mathematical 
exactness the canons of Aristotle, — it seems to have been 
created for the purpose of transmitting to all coming time that 
spiritual truth by which a world should be created anew. 
And yet more : This language had naturally so attracted to 
itself whatever was valuable in science or delightful in litera- 
ture, that many of its greatest works could not be lost. 
Hence, whatever has at any time been written in it can even 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 129 

at the present day be definitely interpreted. Hence, also, 
wherever in the old world the human mind has awaked from 
the slumber of ignorance, the knowledge of this language has 
been revived. And it deserves to be remarked, that those 
remains of it that have come down to us, are specially rich in 
the expression of spiritual conceptions — in terms which are 
most readily adapted to illustrate the truths of revelation. 
Hence, when the new and astonishing doctrines of the gospel 
were to be promulgated, hardly a term required to be modi- 
fied in order to adapt this language to the purpose. St. Paul 
was esteemed by Longinus as one of the most distinguished 
of Grecian orators ; and the discourses of many of the earlier 
Christian writers are numbered among the purest specimens 
of this remarkable tongue. Thus was the language prepared 
in which the gospel of our^salvation was to be written, and by 
which it was to be transmitted to succeeding generations to the 
end of time. 

And here, in passing, let us pause, for a moment, to inquire, 
by whom was this language enriched by every form of ex- 
pression, and endowed with so remarkable a power of exact- 
ness and precision ? It was by poets who sung of barbarian 
wars, of the contests of fabulous gods, and the loves of unholy 
sensualists ; by historians who wrote for fame, and orators who 
contended for power ; by*philosophers who inquired not for 
truth, and sophists who taught falsehood for hire. Even these 
last, by their endless disputations, their subtile distinctions, 
and their crafty sophistry, gave a fixedness to language which 
it could by no other means have attained. Thus is it ever in 
the government of God. He makes the wrath of man to praise 
him, and the remainder of wrath he restrains. Thus, while 
men, utterly forgetful of him, were following each one the 
desires and devices of his own heart, they were accomplishing 
his purposes, and preparing the way for the coming of Him who 
w r as the desire of all nations. Thus, while God allows all his 
moral creatures to act as they will, by far-reaching wisdom, he 
overrules all things for his glory, and causes wicked, sensual, 



130 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

and atheistic men to subserve the purposes of virtue and right- 
eousness and true godliness. 

Such was the preparation necessary in order to prepare a 
language in which God should reveal to us the doctrines of llie 
new dispensation, and usher in the hope of everlasting life. 
But this was not all. It was also necessary that this language 
should be diffused throughout the civilized world. This was 
also accomplished. 

At the period in which the Greek language had attained to 
its highest perfection, Alexander, frequently called the Great, 
was born. This remarkable man, perhaps the most remarka- 
ble conqueror whose history has yet been written, immediately 
after his accession to the throne of Macedon, having subdued 
the states of Greece that had dared to resist his sway, com- 
menced that series of victories which have rendered his name 
immortal. Having overrun that portion of Europe that lay to 
the eastward of Greece, he carried his conquests into Asia ; 
and, in a few years, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, 
Assyria, and Persia, were his tributary provinces. He even 
penetrated into India ; and, but for the resistance of his own 
soldiers, would have planted his standards upon the banks of 
the Ganges. The theatre of these conquests comprehended 
by far the most populous and highly civilized portions of the 
then known world. Every where throughout these vast 
regions, he established the Grecian authority, and by conse- 
quence introduced the Greek language. Every where he 
brought the science and intelligence, the courage and freedom, 
the manners and arts of Greece into contact with the puerile 
thought, the servile timidity, and barbarian wealth of Oriental 
civilization. Power and wisdom, when they strike their roots 
into such a soil, are not easily eradicated. Greek, in all 
these regions, soon became the language of intelligence, rank, 
and station. From the higher classes it was gradually dissem- 
inated among the middle ranks of society ; and hence, among 
these countless millions, it had soon established a universal 
sway. Of the extent to which it had prevailed we may learn 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 1 31 

from the fact, that as early as the year 285 before Christ, it 
had become necessary to translate the Old Testament Scriptures 
into Greek, for the use of the Jews residing in Alexandria. 
Greek had already become more familiar to them than the 
language of their ancestors, and, lest they should lose their 
knowledge of the word Of God, it was rendered, for their bene- 
fit, into a tongue that had become to them vernacular. Flour- 
ishing schools of Grecian philosophy were established in 
several of the cities of Asia Minor. Among these, Tarsus, the 
birthplace of the apostle Paul, at an early period, obtained no 
inconsiderable preeminence. These, like so many centres of 
illumination, diffused on every side the light of western civili- 
zation, and rendered a knowledge of the Greek language a 
necessary attainment for every educated man. These remarks, 
however, as you will perceive, have respect principally to the 
countries to the eastward of Greece. 

With the death of Alexander, the political preeminence of 
Greece was nearly at an end. She, however, still continued 
immeasurably in advance of the surrounding nations, in the 
arts, in science, and in civilization. As the Roman empire 
was rising in the west, her citizens felt the necessity of intel- 
lectual cultivation as well as of martial glory ; and they began 
to resort to Athens, the seat of knowledge and the cherished 
abode of eloquence and philosophy. Thus the poets and ora- 
tors of Rome first imbibed a taste for elegance of language and 
refinement of thought. At last Greece was subdued by the 
arms of Italy, and Achaia was added to the catalogue of Roman 
provinces. From this time, there was nothing to prevent the 
universal influx of Grecian literature into Rome. The statues, 
the paintings, the poetry, the eloquence, and the philosophy of 
Greece, were transferred from the banks of the Ilyssus to the 
banks of the Tiber. Roman authors aspired to little else than 
to copy into their own language those models which they ceased 
not to study with an almost idolatrous admiration. In fact, 
Roman literature became almost a mere reproduction of those 



10 132 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

works which were universally acknowledged to have attained 
the perfection of aesthetic excellence. 

The result of all this is very easily conceived. The Latin 
language was itself modified by the literature which it imitated, 
and became the second in power of the languages of antiquity. 
But this was not all. Greek, throughout the Roman empire, 
became the language of educated 'men. Hence, when Paul 
addressed the Roman governor, Claudius Lysias, in this lan- 
guage at Jerusalem, it was at once perceived that he was a 
person of consideration, and not the lawless freebooter for 
whom he had been at first mistaken. Thus, also, Caesar 
relates, that on one occasion, when he wished to communicate 
important private intelligence to one of his lieutenants, in a 
besieged city, he wrote a letter in Greek, and directed his 
messenger to attach it to an arrow, and shoot it over the walls. 
This language, he knew, would be unintelligible to the Gauls, 
but would be well understood by the officers of his own army. 

In this manner, during the gradual progress of Rome to uni- 
versal dominion, this language came into general use through- 
out the civilized world. It was spoken and read in all the 
countries bordering on the Mediterranean, in Europe, Asia, 
and Africa. In all these regions, it became the language of 
educated men. Whatever was written in Greek was accessi- 
ble to millions, and these millions comprehended all the men 
who gave character to their age, or conferred distinction upon 
their nation. 

We sec, then, in the second place, that God not only pre- 
pared a language in which this revelation for all coming ages 
could be written, but he diffused that language over the civil- 
ized world. He created a suitable vehicle for the truth, and he 
made that vehicle, as far as was necessary, universal. And 
this work, let us observe, was accomplished by means of the 
ambition of Alexander, and the all-grasping love of dominion 
of the citizens of Rome. Men ignorant of the existence and 
character of the true God, bowing down to the senseless images 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 133 

which their own hands had fashioned, indulging without re- 
straint their own corrupt passions, were thus advancing his 
purposes, and opening the way for the advent of his Son. Thus, 
again, was that saying verified, " He maketh the wrath of man 
to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain." 

One other condition remains yet to be observed. You well 
know that the nations inhabiting the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean were originally distinct in government, dissimilar in 
origin, diverse in laws, habits, and usages, and almost per 
petually at war. To pass from one to the other, without 
incurring the risk of injur)'', nay, even of being sold into sla- 
very, was almost impossible. A stranger and an enemy were 
designated by the same word. Beginning with Spain, and 
passing through Gaul, Germany, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, 
Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Carthage, until you arrive again 
at the Pillars of Hercules, every state was most commonly the 
enemy of every other. It was necessary that these various 
peoples should all be moulded by the same pressure into one 
common form ; that one system of laws should bind them all 
in harmony ; and that, under one common protection, a citizen 
might be able to pass through all of them in security. This 
seems to have been needful, in order that the new religion 
might be rapidly and extensively promulgated. 

In order to accomplish this purpose, as I suppose, was the 
Roman empire raised up, and intrusted with the sceptre of 
universal dominion. Commencing with a feeble colony on the 
banks of the Tiber, she gradually, by conquest and conciliation, 
incorporated with herself the many warlike tribes of ancient 
Italy. In her very youth, after a death-struggle of more than 
a century, she laid Carthage, the former mistress of the Medi- 
terranean, lifeless at her feet. From this era she paused not a 
moment in her career of universal conquest. Nation after 
nation submitted to her sway. Army after army was scattered 
before her legions, like the dust of the summer threshing-floor. 
Her proconsuls sat enthroned in regal state in every city of 
the civilized world ; and the barbarian mother, clasping her 
12 



134 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

infant to her bosom, fled to the remotest fastnesses of the wil- 
derness, when she saw, far off in the distance, the sunbeams 
glittering upon the eagles of the republic. 

Far different, however, were the victories of Rome from 
those of Alexander. The Macedonian soldier thought mainly 
of battles and sieges, the clash of onset, the flight of satraps, 
and the subjugation of kings. ' He overran ; the Romans 
always conquered. Every vanquished nation became, in turn, 
a part of the Roman empire. A large portion of every con- 
quered people was admitted to the rights of citizenship. The 
laws of the republic threw over the conquered the shield of 
her protection. Rome may, it is true, have oppressed them ; 
but then she delivered them from the capricious and more 
intolerable oppression of their native rulers. Hence her con- 
quests really marked the progress of civilization, and extended 
in all directions the limits of universal brotherhood. The 
Roman citizen was free of the civilized world ; every where 
lie might appeal to her laws, and repose in security under the 
shadow of her universal power. Thus the declaration, " Ye 
have beaten us openly and uncondemned, being Romans," 
brought the magistrates of Philippi suppliants at the feet of the 
aposlle Paul ; his question, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a 
man that is a Roman and uncondemned ? " palsied the hands 
of the lictors at Jerusalem ; and the simple words, " I appeal 
unto Caesar," removed his cause from the jurisdiction even of 
the proconsul at Coesarea, and carried it at once into the 
presence of the emperor. You cannot but perceive, that this 
universal domination of a single civilized power must have 
presented great facilities for the promulgation of the gospel. 
In many respects, it resembled the dominion of Great Britain 
at the present day in Asia. Wherever her red cross floats, 
there the liberty of man is, to a great extent, protected by the 
constitution of the realm. Whatever be the complexion or the 
language of the nations that take refuge beneath its folds, they 
look up to it every where, and bid defiance to every other 
despotism. 



PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 135 

You see, then, in conclusion, that an extensive work of 
preparation was needed before the glory of the Lord should be 
revealed, and that new dispensation ushered in, which should 
endure to the end of time, and transform the kingdoms of this 
world into the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. It 
was requisite that the powers of the human mind should arrive 
at vigorous manhood, that a language should be created capa- 
ble of enunciating the message from on high with a distinct- 
ness that should bear the scrutiny of all coming ages ; that 
this language should come into universal use, and that the 
civilized world should be united under a uniform government. 
After four thousand years, all this was accomplished. The 
fulness of time had come, and God sent forth his Son. 

If this be so, we perceive that the overturnings of forty 
centuries were required in order to prepare the world for the 
advent of the Messiah. The same omniscient wisdom has 
ever since been engaged in carrying forward the work which 
was then commenced. Not only the revolutions of empire, 
but the astonishing changes in civilization produced by the 
discovery of America, the invention of the printing press, the 
steam engine, the railroad, and the electrical telegraph, have 
all been ordained with reference to the same grand result. 
The w r rath of man still praises God, and the remainder of 
wrath he restrains. Centuries may roll away before the uni- 
versal reign of the Messiah shall commence ; but, if so ex- 
tended be the work of preparation, what limit can be imagined 
to the duration of that kingdom which Christ shall establish 
over a redeemed and emancipated world ? Ages of peace and 
righteousness may be confidently anticipated, in comparison 
with which the preliminary ages of sin and misery will in the 
retrospect dwindle to an almost invisible point. The number 
of the lost will be to the number of the saved as the small dust 
of the balance ; the victory over sin will be triumphant ; and 
this earth will again become a glorious light in the moral 
firmament of God. 

Do I read the past history of our world aright ? Is this the 



136 PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. 

true unveiling of the mystery that has covered so large a 
portion of the history of the human race ? How astonishing 
a conception, then, is here presented of the far-reaching wis- 
dom of the Deify ! The myriads of our race, in the untram- 
melled exercise of all their powers, each one carrying forward 
the purposes of his own heart, and working out the problem of 
his probation for eternity, have been, at the same time, accom- 
plishing the will of Him " who is wonderful in counsel," " in 
whose sight a thousand years are as one day, and one day is 
as a thousand years." " The weakness of God is stronger 
than man, and the foolishness of God is wiser than man." 
" The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice ; let the multitude 
of isles be glad thereof." This is the God against whom 
every sinner is in rebellion, and with whom every one of us 
"has to do." Can there be any hope in such a contest? Can 
we oppose ourselves to such a God, and hope to prosper? 
"Be wise, then, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the 
earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye pensh ?ro>v the way 
when his wrath is kindled but a little. BIt.v.1 ?r? all they 
that put their trust in him." 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH 



PART I. 



" God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the 
law, to redeem them that were under the law." 

Galatians iv. 4, 5. 

The apostle Paul, in the chapter preceding that from which 
the text is taken, illustrates the superiority of the gospel 
revealed to us by Christ over the law delivered to the Israelites 
by Moses. In accomplishing this purpose, he teaches us that 
the law, being merely preparatory, was, of course, an inferior 
dispensation, which ceased as soon as that to which it was 
introductory commenced. It accomplished, however, an im- 
portant purpose, during the long interval that elapsed between 
the calling of Abraham and the appearance of the Messiah. 
" The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." 
When, at last, every preparation had been fully made, — when 
the time, the set time, to favor Zion had come, — then " God sent 
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to 
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive 
the adoption of sons." 

These words, my brethren, seem to me to unfold to us some 
of those remarkable conditions under which the Messiah 
visited our world to do away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 
In the attempt to direct your meditations at this time, I propose 
simply to illustrate and develop the sentiment which they 
contain. 

12* 



138 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

1. The text asserts that " God sent forth Ms Son." Who 
is intended to be designated by the terra So?i, I need scarcely 
pause to inform you. It is that divine Being who is elsewhere 
called " the Word," " who was in the beginning with God, who 
was God," " by whom all things were made, and without 
whom not any thing was made that was made." 

2. God sent forth his Son, " made of a woman." The term 
" made of a woman " intends, as I suppose, to assert that the 
Son appeared on earth a human being ; that he took upon 
himself a human, in opposition to an angelic or any other 
nature. If this be true, then the Messiah possessed a perfect 
human constitution, endowed with all the powers and faculties 
belonging to such a constitution, just like any one of us. He 
possessed an understanding, a taste, a conscience, a will, appe- 
tites, passions, senses, just like our own, save only that they 
were not defiled with the stain of sin. " Wherefore he is not 
ashamed to call us brethren." 

The same idea is frequently expressed in other passages of 
the Scriptures. Thus we are told, John i. 14, "The word 
uecame Jlesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth." 
Thus, also, 1 Tim. hi. 15, 16: "The pillar and ground of the 
truth, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godli- 
ness ; God was manifest in the flesh." So, also, Romans ix. 
5 : " Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the 
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever." 
Thus, also, Philippians ii. 5 — 7 : " Christ Jesus, who, being in 
the form of God, made himself of no reputation, and took 
upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the 
likeness of men, and, being found in fashion as a man, he 
humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death 
of the cross." And lastly, for I need not multiply quotations, 
Hebrews ii. 14 : " For as much then as the children are par- 
takers of flesh and blood, (that is, of a human nature,) he also 
himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he 
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the 
devil." The meaning of these and similar passages, I sup- 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 139 

pose to be the following : The divine Being designated by the 
term Word, or Son of God, was united with a perfect human 
nature, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth ; and this mys- 
terious being was Christ, the Messiah, the anointed One, God 
manifest in the flesh, by whose obedience, sufferings, and inter- 
cession alone, the race of Adam can hope for eternal life. 

3. God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the 
law. What is the meaning of this last phrase — " made under 
the law " ? 

. The law spoken of here must be either the ceremonial 01 
the moral law. 

The word law is used twice in the sentence which forms 
the text. In both cases it must have the same signification. 
It is said, in the latter clause, Christ came to redeem those who 
were under the law. The word here cannot mean the cere- 
monial law, since this exposition would restrict the blessings 
flowing f"om the atonement of Christ to the Jews, who were 
the only \ »eople under this law ; and would also make the sal- 
vation of the gospel nothing more than a deliverance from 
ceremonial observances. It would thus teach us that the whole 
purpose for which Christ came upon earth was to emancipate 
the Jewish nation from the thraldom of the Mosaic ritual. 
Besides, in the clause succeeding the text, the meaning of the 
words " redeem those who were under the law " is explained by 
adding, " that we might receive the adoption of sons." Now, 
our receiving the adoption of sons could not be consequent 
upon the subjection of Christ to the ceremonial law ; nor could 
it mean emancipation from that law, since, of those who received 
this adoption, the greater part never were under its domin- 
ion. I think it clear, then, that, in this case, the word law 
means, not the ceremonial, but the moral law. If such be its 
meaning in the one case, it is also its meaning in the other. 
When we say, therefore, that Christ was made under the law, 
we mean the moral law, that under which the human race 
was created, which they are bound to obey, and by which they 
will all bo judged in the day of final account. 



140 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

What, then, does the apostle mean, when he declares that 
Christ was under the moral law ? You observe that Christ 
was made under the law " to redeem those that are under the 
law." It is evident that the expression in these two places has 
the same signification. We cannot, then, escape the conclusion 
that Christ was made under the law in the same sense that we 
are under the law. 

When we say that we are under the law, we, I think, mean 
that we are under a constitution such that we suffer or enjoy in 
consequence of our disobedience or obedience to a law that has 
been made known to us. The assertion may be explained in 
a few words, thus : We were endowed, at our creation, with all 
the requisite powers, and surrounded with all proper induce- 
ments for keeping the law of God. We were gifted with an 
intellect to know, a conscience to admonish, and a will to 
determine ; and sufficient motives were set before us to incline 
us to act virtuously. The law of God which we were required to 
obey was briefly this : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself." Under these cir- 
cumstances we were placed in a state of probation, and our 
eternal destiny was suspended upon our obedience or disobe- 
dience. If we had kept the law, eternal life would have been 
bestowed upon us through the merciful ordinance of God. If 
we failed even for once, our claim to salvation on the ground 
of law was forever annulled, and we became exposed to the 
righteous penalties of the precept which we had violated. But 
this is not all. It is manifestly an element of the constitution 
under which we are placed, that those who come after us must 
suffer or enjoy in consequence of our acts — acts with which 
they could have had no personal connection. Such is the con- 
stitution under which we all find ourselves to have been created, 
and to which 'Adam was in a particular manner subjected. 
Had Adam passed through his probation without sin, no one 
can tell in how far the moral peril of the probation of his pos- 
terity would have been diminished. He sinned, and involved 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 141 

all who came after him in the catastrophe of his trans- 
gression.* 

Now, when we say that the Messiah was made under the 
moral law, it seems to me the same as to assert that he ap- 
peared upon earth, and lived, and died, under these same con- 
ditions. He placed himself under the same moral constitution 
as that under which the race of man was placed ; or, in other 
words, the same as that under which Adam was originally 
placed in the garden of Eden. 

When, however, I assert this, it is proper to remark that the 
Messiah voluntarily placed himself under this constitution. He 
was, in his divine nature, infinitely removed from the moral 
law proper for human nature. " He was before all things, and 
by him do all things consist." " The Word was in the begin- 
ning with God, and the Word was God." " Being in the form 
of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but 
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a 
servant." The Creator cannot, from his nature, be subject to 
the law of the creature. He, of his own incomprehensible 
benevolence, placed himself under the law which he had ap- 
pointed for the creature in order to work out our redemption. 

After, however, the Son of God had placed himself under the 
law of human nature, he became subject to it, in the same 
manner as that nature ; that is, specially as Adam was subject 
to it, when he commenced his probation. f He was exposed to 
all the consequences of disobedience, and entitled to all the re- 
wards of obedience, just as we suppose our first parent to have 
been before his fall. This, however, includes several partic- 
ulars, which may properly be stated somewhat more explicitly. 

On this part of our subject I would remark, first, he took 
upon himself a nature liable to sin. Were it otherwise, it would 
not have been a human nature ; and he would neither have 

* See Sermon p. 80. where this subject is more fully illustrated. 

t This is manifestly the appropriate condition of human nature. 
The sinful condition of our race is an accident, and is evidently no 
part of the constitution under which our race was originally created. 



142 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

been under the law, nor would he have been of the seed of 
Abraham. Had he not been liable to sin, I do not see in what 
would have consisted his virtue, either in resisting temptation 
or in triumphing over evil. What may be the forms of virtue 
in other stales I know not, but, under the conditions of human 
nature, I think we never attribute virtue to an action unless the 
two courses, right and wrong, are both open before a man, and 
with entire freedom of will he chooses the one in preference to 
the other. The way of sin is therefore as fully open before a 
human being as the way of holiness ; and from the conditions 
of his being, he is as liable to the one as to the other.* 

Secondly. It follows, I think, from what I have said, that, if 
the Messiah had sinned, the consequences to himself would 
have been the same as to any one of us. The words of the 
law are, " Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon 
every soul of man that doeth evil," and " glory, and honor, and 
peace to every man that doeth good." And " we know that what 
things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the 
law." This was the law under which the Son of God was made. 



* It may be proper here to remark, that in every case of human 
action there maybe both a physical and a moral possibility or impossi- 
bility. Thus a man of tried virtue and goodness has it physically a3 
much in his power to commit murder or theft as any other man. He 
has by nature passions and appetites which may be gratified by these 
or any other sins. His hunger, for instance, may be appeased by for- 
bidden food. There is nothing to restrain him but his virtue. But 
that virtue may be so superior to this temptation, that, were it pre- 
sented before him forever, he would never be overcome. We say, in 
such a case, that it is morally impossible for him to commit this sin. 
"We recognize this distinction every day in our ordinary conversation. 
If a man is, from sickness, unable to move, he is incapable of crime in 
the one sense. If he be so virtuous that temptation is unable to 
seduce him, we say that he is incapable of crime in the other sense. 
Thus we frequently say of a good man, that he is incapable of lying ; 
of a kind man, that he is incapable of cruelty. We suppose, then, 
that the Messiah was physically capable of sin, and liable to tempta- 
tion, and that the only reason why he did not sin was his transcend- 
ent virtue. 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 143 

By keeping it, he would, in his inferior nature, have been 
entitled to all its rewards ; by disobeying it, he would have been 
exposed to the punishments which it threatened. If, however, 
it be here asked, How could punishment be inflicted on this 
mysterious Being, in whose person were united the divine and 
human nature ? I willingly confess that I cannot explain it. 
There seems, however, to have been recorded various facts in 
his life which show that even this was not impossible. When 
on earth, without sin, his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even 
unto death. His nature, then, even here, was capable, as also 
we see in the garden of Gethsemane, of the direst extremity 
of pain. When on the cross, his Father's face was hidden 
from him. If his nature were capable of such a condition as 
this for an hour or a moment, it was capable of it for any 
period whatever. 

Thirdly. But far other consequences than those that came 
upon himself were to result from the probationary existence of 
the Messiah. I have alluded to the element of the constitution 
under which our race was created by which we suffer or enjoy 
in consequence of acts in which we have had no participation. 
In virtue of this law, our first parents became, from the neces- 
sity of the case, in some sort representatives of their race. 
They fell. " By one man sin entered into the world." Their 
posterity have ever since been sinners. " By one man's diso- 
bedience, the many were made sinners." In what manner 
these consequences become entailed upon us, it is not necessary 
here to inquire. It is sufficient for us to observe the fact that 
results directly from what is here asserted, namely, that, in 
consequence of the sin of our first parents, the door of eternal 
life became practically closed to the whole of that race which 
came after them. 

Now, it seems that this very element of the constitution under 
which we were created, and by which our race was ruined, is 
precisely that by which we are redeemed. By the sin of 
Adam, his posterity became sinners, the law of God was dis- 
honored, the paternal authority of God set at defiance, and thus 



144 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

the way of life to man became closed. It was necessary, in 
order to our salvation, that this law should be perfectly obeyed 
by one in human nature ; and obeyed in such a manner, and 
by one of such a character, as would reflect more honor on the 
purity of the law, and illustrate more gloriously to the universe 
the holiness of God, than we could have done by our obe- 
dience, or even by suffering forever the penalty which we had 
incurred. This was the great purpose for which Christ was 
manifest in the flesh. " He took not hold of the nature of 
angels, but he took hold of the seed of Abraham ; wherefore 
in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren." 
The Messiah then came as the second Adam, to obey the law, 
which, in consequence of the disobedience of the first Adam, the 
whole race of man had broken. The possibility of the salvation 
of the whole race was conditioned upon his obedience. If he 
kept the law spotless and without blemish, if he magnified the 
law and made it honorable, God the Father would be well 
pleased for his righteousness' sake. If he passed triumphant in 
virtue through all the moral trials to which our nature could be 
exposed, a way of escape from eternal wrath was provided ; 
the gate of heaven, before closed by our sins, was thrown wide 
open to every child of Adam ; justice and mercy would meet 
together ; God could be just, and yet the justifier of him that 
believeth in Jesus ; the throne of God would be encircled with 
a more venerable and yet more lovely effulgence ; and a man- 
ifestation of the attributes of the Eternal, more august than 
cherubim and seraphim had yet beheld, would burst forth upon 
principalities and powers in heavenly places. But if, on the 
other hand, the Messiah had sinned, — if the wickedness of 
man, or the temptations of Satan, had seduced him by word, or 
thought, or deed, from the line of perfect obedience to the holy 
law of God, — all this would have been reversed. The Messiah 
himself must have borne, with ourselves, the curse of that law 
under which he, in common with the race of man, had placed 
himself. The gate of heaven, closed a second time to our 
race, would have been sealed without the possibility of hope ; 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 145 

and our whole apostate family, not one exempt, would have 
peopled the regions of despair. Nay, more : the plan of 
redemption, on which the wisdom of Omniscience had been 
exhausted, would have proved abortive. That effort of infinite 
compassion, by which it was intended to save a race of perish- 
ing sinners, would have only rendered their perdition more 
hopeless by the very sacrifice of his well-beloved Son. The 
counsel of Heaven would have been covered with confusion. 
Infinite mercy would have wrought nothing but misery. * 

On this conflict, then, we may well suppose that the des- 
tinies of the universe were suspended. By the obedience of 
the Messiah was it to be determined whether sin or holiness 
should be henceforth in the ascendant. Well may we sup- 
pose that our earth, at that moment, presented a spectacle on 
which all intelligent creatures were gazing with all-absorbing 
interest. Well might the Holy Spirit descend in a visible form 
on the head of Him who was first girding himself for this 
mighty contest. Well might the Eternal Father cheer him 
with his presence, and declare to the universe, " This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Well might Moses 
and Elias seize an opportunity on the mount of transfigura- 
tion to speak with him respecting the decease which he should 
accomplish at Jerusalem. Well might angels be seen minis- 
tering to him, when his nature, exhausted by fasting, or pressed 

* It may be objected to the view here taken, that I have not duly 
considered the class of passages which lay a peculiar stress on the 
blood of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, the death of Christ as procuring 
our redemption, the offering up of Christ, &c. To this I would reply, 
that I by no means have forgotten these passages, nor am I disposed, 
in the least degree, to attenuate their meaning. No view of any 
subject of revelation can be correct if it do not allow the full and 
obvious meaning of every class of passages which treat upon that 
subject. It may, therefore, be proper to remark that, in treating of 
the work of Christ, the Scriptures seem to me to develop two ideas — 
the one, the obedience of Christ to the law ; the other, the offering up 
of himself as a sacrifice for sin. It is to the first of these alone that 
the attention of the reader is directed in the present discourse. The 
subject is further considered in the following sermon. 
13 



116 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

down by the weight of a world's redemption, was sinking 
beneath its burden. No wonder that the earth quaked, and 
the rocks rent, and the sun was shrouded in darkness, on that 
fearful hour in which was decided the fate of the whole moral 
universe. But, if all the powers of heaven were thus inter- 
ested in the event of this conflict, vye may well believe that the 
powers of hell beheld it with the intensest apprehension. By 
the result of the Messiah's mission was it to be decided 
whether they were to defeat the purposes of the Holy One, or 
be covered with tenfold confusion, and made the scorn and 
abhorrence of the universe of God. Hence all their hosts 
were summoned to the onset. A peculiar and unusual power 
over the race of man seems at this time to have been conceded 
to them. This was, no doubt, exerted to the uttermost. Nor 
this alone. The Messiah himself seems to have been exposed 
more directly than any of us to the temptations of the hosts of 
Satan. Every means that infernal cunning could suggest, oi 
desperate malignity direct, was plied to the uttermost, in order, 
if possible, to seduce the Messiah into sin, and thus defeat the 
purposes of infinite goodness. Well was it for our race that 
our help was laid on one that was mighty. What created 
virtue could have passed through such a trial unscathed ? None 
but God manifest in the flesh could have accomplished the 
work which was given to the Redeemer to do. And hence do 
we see how immeasurable a meaning is given to the words, 
" God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son." 
Eternity itself will fail to explore the length, and breadth, and 
depth, and height, of the love of God, which passeth knowl- 
edge — that love which so put in jeopardy the whole interests 
of the universe, to save from perdition a race of creatures who 
had rebelled against a holy and most merciful law.* 

* If the view here taken of the conditions of the Messiah's mission 
be correct, it will, I think, throw some light upon the question so 
frequently asked, In xohat manner did Christ's appearing upor earth 
have any effect upon our moral relations ? To this various replies 
have been presented. It has been said that his unparalleled humil 



THE WOUK OF THE MESSIAH. 14? 

II. Let us now survey this transaction from another point of 
view, and endeavor to form a conception of the life of Christ 
under the conditions which we have endeavored thus imper- 
fectly to explain. 

1. Every one of us may possibly know, from experience 
how oppressive is the weight of solemn and important respon- 
sibility. There are critical moments in the life of almost 
every man, when the whole color of his destiny has been 
determined by a single decision. He who remembers these 
eras in his history needs not to be reminded of the fear and 
trembling with which he approached them. The soul, in such 
circumstances, bowed down beneath the responsibility under 
which its decision must be pronounced, feels distinctly that it 
could not possibly exist, were this anxiety to be long con- 
tinued. So intolerable is the pressure of this overwhelming 
care, that men generally hasten to almost any decision in 
order to be relieved from it, preferring any consequence what- 
ever to the torture of insufferable doubt. 

The case, however, becomes vastly more oppressive when 

iation, or his lowly and painful life, his bitter death, were of the 
nature of a suffering of the penalty of the law. I, however, appre- 
hend that this explanation has not always been satisfactory to those 
who have borne in mind the character of the law which we have 
violated, and the awful holiness of the Being against whom we have 
sinned. Besides, the sufferings of Christ, considered by themselves, 
were not severer, nor was his death, in itself, more excruciating than 
that of many martyrs, confessors, and missionaries. And yet, again, 
when the question is asked, how does such a life, if this be all, meet 
the demands of the law ? how is it in so special a manner a moral 
victory ? I think we generally feel that this transaction is a mystery 
of which we would like to see a clear solution. If, however, we go 
beyond this outward appearance, and consider that this life was 
really spent under a liability to all the consequences of sin, and that 
this virtue, thus exhibited, did really triumph over every attack that 
could be made upon it by all the hosts of hell, we seem, to me, to 
approach nearer to an answer to these questions ; while, at the same 
time, the whole transaction assumes a moral grandeur, in comparison 
with which every other fact in the history of the world turns pale. 



143 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

not only our own destinies, but those of otbers, arc deeply 
affected by our decisions. I can conceive Df no situation more 
intensely painful to a benevolent mind than that in winch the 
happiness or misery of multitudes is suspended upon the 
deliberations of our own finite intelligence. A crisis of this 
kind, happily, does not frequently occur in the ordinary walks 
of life. There are, however, rare situations, in which men are 
called habitually to act under the pressure of such responsi- 
bility. Where this is the case, the heart, unless sustained by 
the highest attainments in virtue, becomes callous and indiffer- 
ent to the result; or else the intellect itself gives way beneath 
a burden of anxiety too heavy to be borne by human nature. 
Politicians and statesmen, more directly than other men, are 
placed in the circumstances to which I have referred ; and 
hence it is that their annals are so replete, on the one hand, 
with instances of remorseless and revolting selfishness, and, 
on the other, with those of derangement, suicide, and sudden 
death. 

In the case of the Messiah, however, not temporal but eter- 
nal interests were suspended upon his decisions. It was not 
merely the result of his actions upon his own happiness or 
misery, but their result upon the happiness or misery of innu- 
merable millions that pressed with overwhelming anxiety upon 
his holy soul. It was not merely the happiness or misery of 
created beings, be they ever so numerous, or how largely 
soever susceptible of pleasure or pain; it was the honor of that 
holy law which, in the presence of the universe, he had under- 
taken to magnify, which was perilled upon the condition of his 
sinless obedience. And yet more : these stupendous conse- 
quences were not suspended upon a single hour, or day, or 
year of the Messiah's life, but upon every action, eveiy word, 
every thought, every motive, throughout his whole probation- 
ary existence. Every moral bias, during his continuance 
under the law, was put forth under the pressure of this infinite 
responsibility. Had lie but once disobeyed God ; had he acted 
from one guilty or even one imperfect motive had he, for a 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 149 

single moment, exercised any thing less than the full measure 
of that love which was due to his Father in heaven, and to his 
brethren of the human race, — all would have been lost; the 
scheme of man's redemption would have stood recorded in 
the annals of eternity a solemn failure, and the cunning and 
malice of hell would have triumphed over the wisdom and 
holiness of heaven. 

To spend a life on earth, with a full knowledge of the con- 
sequences which were thus suspended upon every moment, 
must have been awful beyond any thing of which the human 
mind can adequately conceive. There were, however, circum- 
stances in the life of the Messiah which must have aggravated, 
beyond description, the agony which he suffered. 

,It will assist us to form a conception of the life of Christ, 
if we, for a moment, in the first place, compare it, in 
this respect, with that of Adam. Adam is styled, in the 
Scriptures, the type or emblem of Him who was to come. 
The reason of this designation is obvious. Our first parent 
stood in a relation to the race similar to that held by the 
Messiah. Had our progenitor kept the law inviolate, and 
passed through his probation without sin, the course of human 
life would have commenced, and perhaps would have con- 
tinued, sinless ; just as, " by the transgression of one," on the 
other hand, " the many were made sinners." So the Messiah, 
the second Adam, standing in the same relation to our race, 
on his obedience or failure, the destiny of us all was a second 
time contingent. But how immeasurably different were the 
conditions of these our two representatives ! The soul of Adam 
awoke to consciousness in a pure and holy world. Nothing 
was reflected back from every object around him but the 
unsullied image of the Creator. God himself was his 
instructor and his companion. There was no example of sin 
to corrupt him. There was no infliction of injustice to exas- 
perate him. There was no act of ingratitude to grieve him. 
Every thing around him was very good ; and every thing was 
created with the express intention of fostering the principle of 
13* 



150 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

holiness within him. And, moreover, he entered upon this 
state without ever having seen any thing more glorious. It 
was comparatively easy for him to pass through his probation 
unharmed, and thus to impress the seal of righteousness upon 
his whole posterity. 

The Messiah, on the contrary, entered a world lying in 
wickedness ; a world without God: Every nice that he saw 
had been marked with the image of the prince of darkness. 
The very elements of its society had received their form and 
pressure from the enemy of all righteousness. What a con- 
trast did it form with the world that he had left ! He had 
exchanged the peace and harmony of heaven for the war 
and discords of earth ; the anthems of seraphim for the 
blasphemies of men. The adoration of the hosts of heaven, 
who accompanied him to the confines of our world, had 
hardly ceased, when he was assailed by the scornful rcvilings 
of the worms upon his footstool. 

Again : when men are placed in circumstances of peculiar 
trial, they are of necessity intimately associated together. 
The chief actor in a momentous enterprise unites with him- 
self others who sympathize in his motives, comprehend his 
plans, carry forward his designs, and who would cheerfully 
sacrifice their lives in behalf of the cause in which all are 
equally engaged. How much this tends to alleviate anxiety, 
and soften the pressure of otherwise intolerable care, I surely 
need not remind you. 

None of these ameliorating circumstances, however, re- 
lieved the anxieties of Jesus of Nazareth. Of all the beings 
who have dwelt upon our earth, none was ever so emphatically 
a lone man as the Messiah. In the prophetic language of 
Isaiah, " he trode the wine-press alone, and of the people 
there was none with him." At the commencement of his 
public ministry, all his family, his mother only excepted, dis- 
carded him as a madman. Though he selected his immediate 
companions from his most promising disciples, yet not one of 
ihem could comprehend his plans, or form even a remote 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 151 

conception of the nature of his mission. Even after his 
resurrection, their views of the result of his advent reached 
not beyond the establishment of a temporal sovereignty, and 
the conferring of universal dominion upon the descendants of 
Abraham. " Lord," said they unto him, " wilt thou at this 
time restore the kingdom to Israel ? " Nay, on the very 
night in which he was betrayed, when, about to enter upon 
his bitter passion, he was attempting to prepare them for the 
coming events, they interrupted him by an altercation arising 
out of the question, who should be the greatest in the ap- 
proaching revolution. Thus, without sympathy, wholly with- 
out a helper, he bore the weight of his own sorrows ; while 
he was working out, unaided, the deliverance of a world from 
the condemnation of the law. 

But while thus destitute of friends, who were capable of 
sympathizing with him, he suffered, as no other being on earth 
ever suffered, the unmitigated infliction of this world's enmity. 
If any thing could have moved him to wrath, he must have 
been so moved by the treatment which he received from 
those whom he came from heaven to seek and to save. He 
came to suffer the will and obey the law of God, to rescue 
us from eternal perdition ; and how was he welcomed ? In 
infancy his life was sought for by Herod. As he travelled 
on foot over the plains of Judea and the mountains of Gali- 
lee, the common hospitalities of life were denied him. " The 
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but ihe 
Son of man hath not where to lay his head." If he did not 
work miracles, his authority was denied ; if he wrought them 
on the Sabbath, he was accused of breaking his Father's 
commandment ; if he wrought them on any other day, his 
power was ascribed to collusion with the prince of devils. 
If he taught plainly, he excited the malice of the scribes, and 
they conspired against his life ; if he spoke in parables, they 
scoffed at him as a madman and a demoniac. Every truth that 
he revealed was uttered in the presence of avowed enemies, or 
of treacherous friends, who, with fiendish ingenuity, wrested 



152 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

his words and strove to distort his holy precepts into blas- 
phemy. To have refrained from speaking would have dis- 
pleased his Father, for he came from heaven to be a light 
unto the world. To speak was to arouse that ceaseless 
enmity which was only awaiting a fit occasion to raise the 
universal cry, " Crucify him ! crucify him ! away with such 
a fellow from the earth ! " Every act, which fiendish inge- 
nuity could invent, was plied to the uttermost to tempt him 
to sin ; and had he but once sinned, his tempters, with their 
whole race, would have been consigned to remediless 
perdition. 

But this is not all. I have already remarked that he was 
incessantly exposed to the most subtle temptations of all the 
powers of darkness. Of the manner of these temptations 
we have a recorded example in two of the evangelists. 
From this single instance, we may learn that every circum- 
stance of his eventful life was employed with consummate 
address to lead the Messiah into sin. In the extremity of 
hunger and exhaustion, he was pressed to put forth his 
miraculous power in a manner not permitted by his Father, 
that so he might betray impatience to the allotments of Provi- 
dence. In his loneliness and humiliation, when, his mission 
not having been confided to a single soul, he was a solitary 
being on earth, all the kingdoms of the world are offered 
him as the reward of a single act of transgression. And 
when, strong in holy confidence, he had repelled every temp- 
tation, even this confidence is employed to tempt him to a 
mode of reliance on God not warranted by his dealings with 
men. 

This, however, is but a single incident in the Messiah's life 
from which the veil has been removed by the hand of inspi- 
ration. But if the acts of the tempter were thus plied in 
loneliness, in the wilderness, when the Savior had retired for 
the purposes of devotion, with what earnestness must they 
have been redoubled in the city, among the multitude, when 
the successive incidents of his life afforded incomparably 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 153 

better hope that they might be tried with advantage ! What 
must have been the suggestions of the adversary, when the 
malignity of enemies and the ingratitude of friends tried his 
tender spirit to the uttermost? And let. us not forget that 
thus tempted from without, and assaulted from within, every 
action of his life was performed under the fearful respon- 
sibility of a world's salvation. Who, but the Son of God, 
was equal to such a trial ? Had not our help been laid on 
One that was mighty to save, where could have been the 
shadow of hope for any of our race ? 

Such was the life of Christ. But he had yet a baptism to 
be baptized with, in comparison with which all that he had 
yet undergone was tolerable. In view of this, he prayed his 
Father that, if it were possible, this cup might pass from him. 
He prayed thus three times. The anticipation of the trial 
through which he must pass, so overwhelmed his physical 
nature, that the blood gushed from every pore, forced out by 
agony too great for human endurance. 

In order to estimate the intensity of the Messiah's suffering, 
consider, for a moment, the elements of agony that were con- 
centrated in the crisis of his passion. The slight consolations 
that he had received from human sympathy were withdrawn, 
and he was delivered up into the hands of merciless ruffians. 
His disciples leave him alone, and one, the oldest and the 
most zealous, denies, with imprecations, that he had ever 
even known him. Human malice is unchained, that it may 
exert upon him its whole power without control. The Lamb 
of God is smitten with the fist, spit upon, and crowned with 
thorns. All this is but the prelude to death in its most ago- 
nizing form. The immaculate Son of God must endure the 
public death of an ignominious felon. What death is, no one 
of us can know from experience ; much less can we know 
what is endured in a violent, lingering, and cruel death by 
murder. But every one, who has stood by the bedside of a 
departing friend, can form some, though it be an inadequate, 
conception of that hour when the powers of the mind are pros- 



154 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

(rated by disease, and the soul, environed on every side by 
the extremity of suffering, feels the power of self-government 
giving way under the pressure of intolerable anguish. If such 
be death to any one of us, what must it have been to pass 
through this hour as the Messiah did, with the destinies of 
the world suspended on his sinless obedience ? 

But this was not all. The infernal spirits had thus far 
tempted him utterly in vain. The warfare was nearly accom- 
plished, and as yet they had achieved no victory ; one conflict 
only remained. The last effort was now to be made, and with 
better prospect of success than they had before dared to hope 
for. They had succeeded in isolating the Savior from every 
human aid. The moment of nature's weakness was the time 
of their chosen opportunity. The Messiah must come specially 
within their power, as he was delivering the race of man from 
it forever. " It was their hour, and the power of darkness.'* 
I'very earthly support had been withdrawn from him. The 
very power of self-control was trembling under the pressure of 
agony too great to be endured. The will could scarcely retain 
its authority amidst the struggles of expiring nature. Now, 
now, could the Messiah be tempted to sin ; now, could he be 
made to yield even to an unholy thought, or put forth an im- 
patient desire, their whole work would be accomplished. The 
whole power of hell was therefore concentrated to overwhelm 
him at this awful crisis. Under such conditions did the Savior 
pass through the hour of death. 

But lastly : up to this hour, the Spirit had been poured out 
without measure upon him. Thus far he had been upheld by 
constant and reciprocal communion with his Father and our 
Father, with his God and our God. But at this moment, even 
this light, that had thus far cheered him, was withdrawn, and 
he passed through the valley of the shadow of death in utter 
darkness. All support, created and uncreated, was removed, 
and he was left to the unaided strength of his own personal 
virtue. What an hour was that in the annals of eternity ! The 
endless destiny of countless myriads, the honor of the law of 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 155 

God, the decision of that contest which must end in the triumph 
of heaven or the triumph of hell, the question whether Messiah 
should sink under the curse of the law to which he had sub- 
jected himself, or be raised in his assumed nature to the throne 
of the universe, — all were suspended upon the strength of the 
Savior's virtue under this awful trial. He cried, " My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " There was darkness 
over all the land. There was silence in heaven. Seraphim 
and cherubim, awe-struck, looked down upon this unparalleled 
moral contest. On its issue there seems to have depended the 
happiness or misery of the moral universe of God. 

The moments of agony slowly rolled away. The powers 
of hell had gained no advantage. The Messiah, strong in his 
own unaided virtue, had baffled every attack of earth and hell, 
and shone glorious in untarnished holiness. His last moment 
has arrived. Doth he yet maintain his integrity ? Doth he, 
amidst these unfathomable trials of his benevolence, still love 
his neighbor as himself? Hearken to the prayer that quivers 
upon his parched and feverish lips : " Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do." Although forsaken of his 
Father and his God, doth he yet trust in him with filial 
confidence ? Hearken again : " Father, into thy hands I 
commit my spirit." The warfare was accomplished. The 
victory was won. He said, " It is finished, and gave up the 
ghost." 

The work was done. The victory was achieved. He had 
sustained his unparalleled trial, holy, harmless, and undefiled. 
The law of God was magnified and made honorable. An 
illustration of the holiness of God had been made, so glorious 
that the condemnation of the race of man would have been as 
nothing to it. The subtilty of the hosts of hell was turned to 
foolishness. The malignity of Satan was covered with eternal 
shame. The seed of the woman had crushed the head of the 
serpent. The race of Adam was delivered from the curse of 
the law, and a way, even into the holiest of holies, was opened 
to us, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. " Mercy 



156 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

and truth had met together, righteousness and peace had 
kissed each other." Every attribute of God shone forth upon 
the whole moral universe with a new and more resplendent 
effulgence. And all this was accomplished by means of the 
Messiah's holiness. " Wherefore, also, God hath highly ex- 
alted him, and given him a name which is above every name ; 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, whether of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the 
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord to the glory of God the Father.'" And hence, also, as 
he ascended to his native heaven in triumph over all the pow- 
ers of darkness, a new song burst forth from the redeemed of 
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and from 
all the angels round about the throne, saying, with a loud 
voice, u Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain, to receive power, 
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
and blessing ; " while this song was reechoed from eveiy 
creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, saying, 
" Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, to him that 
sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, forever." 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH 



PART II. 

" Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, 
thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious 
also, that the lord god might dwell among them." 

Psalm lxviii. 18. 

In the last discourse, I endeavored to present a conception 
of the manner of life of the Messiah on earth. I then took 
occasion to show that he perfectly fulfilled that law under 
which he had voluntarily placed himself; he triumphed over all 
the powers of darkness, and, having accomplished his whole 
work on earth, he said, " It is finished," bowed his head, and 
yielded up his spirit. He, in human nature, obeyed the law 
which we had violated, in the words of the apostle, " con- 
demned sin in the flesh," "and spoiled principalities and 
powers, making a show of them openly." 

This, however, was only a part of his work as the Messiah. 
He took upon himself human nature. He was made of a 
woman, made under the law. It behoved him to pass through 
all the changes to which those born of women are subjected. 
Until all this was accomplished, his work, as our represent- 
ative, was not completed. Let us see whether we are able, by 
the light of revelation, to trace out his work any further. 

The Scriptures, I think, teach us that the human race must 

exist in three successive states. First, in the state of a spirit 

united to a mortal body — such are we at present ; secondly, in 

the state of spirit disconnected with a body ; and thirdly, that 

14 



lo8 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

of spirit united with a glorified, or, as the apostle terms it, a 
spiritual body. 

Our blessed Lord, during his residence on earth, had passed 
through the first of these conditions of human nature. " He 
was in all points like as we are, yet without sin." 

At death, the Messiah entered upon the second state to which 
we are appointed. His body was laid in the tomb of Joseph, 
and it continued there from the evening of the sixth to the 
morning of the first day of the week. The body was actually 
dead, the executioners themselves being witnesses. And to 
make assurance yet more sure, a soldier, by a wound in the 
Savior's side, that must have severed organs essential to life, 
rendered all deception or error impossible. The spirit or soul 
of the Messiah was then separated from his mortal body. It 
dwelt in the place of departed spirits. All this is stated in the 
first sermon that was preached after the resurrection. Quot- 
ing from the sixteenth Psalm, the apostle Peter says, " I fore- 
saw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right 
hand, that I should not be moved ; therefore did my heart 
rejoice, and my tongue was glad ; moreover, also, my flesh" 
(my human body) " shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not 
leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to 
see corruption," (to suffer decay ;) "thou hast made known to 
me the ways of life," (thou wilt bring me to life again,) " thou 
wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance," (thou wilt 
raise me to the fulness of joy at thy right hand.) The apostle 
shows that these words could never have been true of David, 
since he never rose again, but his flesh saw corruption and 
decay, like that of any other human being. They are, how- 
ever, perfectly true of the Messiah. " David," said he, " being 
a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath, to 
him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he 
would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne, he, seeing this 
before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was 
not left in hell, neither did hisjlesh see corruption." 

The word translated hell here is " hades" a word signifying, 



THE WOKK OF THE MESSIAH. 159 

originally, the invisible, and used, commonly, for the invisible 
world, the place of the departed. It differs generically from 
the word gehenna, which is used invariably to designate the 
place of future punishment reserved for the ungodly. You 
see, then, that the apostle does not teach us that the soul of the 
Messiah, at death, entered heaven ; but merely hades, or the 
abode of separate spirits. 

But what do we know of the residence of Messiah in this 
unseen world ? I must confess our knowledge on this subject 
to be but limited. We know that this invisible world is a place 
either of pleasure or of pain. The apostle speaks of being 
absent from the body and present with the Lord. He says, 
that so far as his own choice was concerned, he would rather 
be thus transferred from the present state of trial to that of 
eternal rest. Our Savior promised to the thief on the cross, 
" This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.'''' It was a 
promise to a dying penitent. It spoke to him of consolation, 
and of future happiness. It could have meant neither annihi- 
lation, nor unconsciousness, but exceeding joy. It was, then, 
to the bliss of this invisible state that the Messiah was himself 
drawing near. He was about to conduct this first-born of the 
redeemed to the mansions which he w T as going to prepare for 
fill those that love him. 

On the other hand, this same hades, the place of the de- 
parted, is spoken of as a place of hopeless misery. " The 
poor man died, and was carried of angels to Abraham's 
bosom." " The rich man also died, and was buried, and in 
hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abra- 
ham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." From such passages 
as these, we may, I think, learn that there is a state into which 
all men pass between the hour of death and the morning of 
the resurrection ; a state in which the soul exists separate from 
the body ; a state of joy unutterable to the pious, and of 
sorrow intolerable to the wicked ; and that into this state the 
Messiah entered, and continued there until, by his own power, 
he rose again from the dead. 



160 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

What was the object of the Messiah in entering this state ? I 
must confess myself unable fully to answer this question. We 
shall all be satisfied on this subject when we ourselves have 
entered it. In our present state, there is much about it that is 
mysterious. One or two suggestions may, however, throw 
some light upon this interesting inquiry. 

The Scriptures, as you must all have perceived, speak with 
great emphasis of the death of Christ, of his offering up Mm- 
self, and being by his death specially the means of our re- 
demption. It may be that there were some parts of this great 
transaction that could be perfected only at or after his death. It 
may be that in death he offered himself up as an expiatory sac- 
rifice, ready and willing to bear all that the law of God might 
require as the price of our redemption. This may be the 
meaning of the apostle when he says, " If the blood of bulls 
and of goats sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much 
more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal 
Spirit,' 1 (in his eternal spiritual nature,) " offered up himself 
without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works 
to serve the living God ? " Here the apostle seems to refer to the 
offering up of himself after he had shown himself to be with- 
out spot. This would lead us to believe that a part of this 
great work of the Messiah was to be performed after death. It 
seems to intimate that after his obedience on earth was com- 
plete, he surrendered himself up, to suffer in our behalf all 
that was necessary in order to render our pardon and redemp- 
tion consistent with infinite holiness. His obedience, however, 
had been so transcendent in virtue, he had so triumphantly 
vanquished all our spiritual enemies, and put to shame all the 
powers of darkness, that I know not whether any thing more was 
demanded. " The Lord was well pleased for his righteousness' 
sake," (his obedience,) " for he had magnified the law and made 
it honorable." That this was the case would seem probable, 
because there is no reference in the Scriptures to his suffering 
after death. This offering up of himself, however, may have 
belonged to the invisible world. Earth had no theatre on 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 161 

which such a scene could have been enacted. It belonged to 
the spiritual world ; it had respect to the whole creation of 
spiritual intelligences, and before them alone could it be 
appropriately displayed. 

Again : the unseen world is the place in which the race of 
man spend by far the greater portion of their existence prior to 
the resurrection. Christ had established his dominion on earth 
by triumphing over all our enemies. It may be that it was 
necessary for him to establish his dominion in that other state, 
through which also we must pass. In what manner his resi- 
dence and triumph, there, will affect our condition, I know not 
that I am able to affirm. I can, however, very well conceive 
that it would have been a very difFerent state for the believer, 
if Christ had not entered it, and thus triumphed over all our 
enemies, as our forerunner, representative, and head. I know 
that where he went, there it will be safe and glorious for the 
believer to follow 7 . I know that where he established his do- 
minion, there it will be blissful for a holy soul to rest. I know 
that where he has prepared a place for us, there we shall be 
idled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

Besides, w T e all know and feel that, in consequence of the 
mission of Christ to our world, the race of man, in its present 
state, is brought immeasurably nearer to God. God becomes 
our Father, and believers are his children. His spirit dwells 
on earth, and holds communion with the spirits of the contrite. 
We may thus hold direct and filial intercourse with God. 
Nothing but our worldliness and sin prevents him from mani- 
festing himself to us here, perhaps as unreservedly as he did 
to our first parents before they transgressed. Heaven has thus 
been opened to us, and the angels of God are now ascending 
and descending upon the son of man. The meaning of this 
symbolical language is, I think, apparent ; Messiah is the 
medium of intercourse between earth and heaven. 

Now, it may be that the abode of the Messiah in the place 
of departed spirits, and the accomplishment of his work there, 
may have brought that state also into more intimate com- 
14* 



162 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

munion with Heaven, and rejoiced thf> spirits of the jus». ith 
new displays of the character of the Most High. Wr , can 
tell how much more brightly the beams of eternal love shine 
upon that spiritual world, in consequence of the veil which he 
drew aside, when he burst the bars of death, and rose trium- 
phant over the grave ? 

I know not but this may also explain to us the passages in 
which believers, at death, are said to be present with the 
Lord. It may be, that, in consequence of his triumph there, 
the communication between heaven and the believing soul is 
so fully and unreservedly established, that it is even as though 
he were there continually present. It may be, that, in conse- 
quence of his work there, he is able, through the long period 
of separate existence, to manifest himself to the spirits of the 
redeemed by such immeasurable outpouring of his Spirit as 
could not else have been possible. Thus his abode there once, 
would render it the same to the believer, as though he were 
always present. Again : we are informed of the triumph which 
attended his entrance upon his work of humiliation. Who can 
tell how glorious in holiness and love must his manifestation of 
himself have been there, when his work of sorrow was com- 
pleted, and he had begun to taste the joys of his well-earned 
victory ! How delightful would it be could we here on earth 
listen to the history of the Savior's life, from the lips of those 
who were eye-witnesses of his acts, and who, with their own 
ears, had received his instructions ! But how much more 
glorious may w T e expect will be the narrative of his appearing 
from all the company of the redeemed, who consorted with 
him during the period of his residence in the spiritual state ! 
The few words which have come down to us of his teaching on 
earth have furnished matter for profoundest contemplation to 
the most gifted and holy men who have lived since his advent. 
How wonderful may we suppose to have been the light which 
Christ in his spiritual state has shed upon all that has gone 
before in the lapse of ages, and all that shall follow in the 
cycles of eternity ! 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 163 

But I must turn from this subject to another. Before leav- 
ing it, however, I beg to say that I do not offer all these sug- 
gestions as a part of revealed truth. I offer them rather as 
probable suppositions. They may be all, or some, or none 
of them, true. But one thing, I am sure, is true ; we shall 
find, when we enter the spiritual state, that the reasons for the 
Savior's existence there were both more numerous, and more 
glorious than we, in our present state, can possibly conceive. 

Whatever may have been the reasons for the abode of the 
Messiah in the separate state, which we denominate death, it 
was not possible that he should be holden of it. When his 
work there was accomplished, it was appointed that he should 
enter upon the third state to which our nature is. to be raised. 
Of his own power he returned to life, for he " had power to 
lay down his life, and he had power to take it again." 

The reason given in the Scriptures for his appearing again 
in human nature is twofold. " He died for our sins," saith 
the apostle Paul, " and was raised again for our justification." 
The terms " for our justification," I do not suppose, mean, that 
we may be justified, but that the evidence might be given, that 
our justification had been effected. Jesus Christ had predicted 
to his friends and his enemies that he should rise again. 
" Destroy this temple," said he, speaking of the temple of his 
body, " and in three days I will raise it again." " After I am 
risen again, I will go before you into Galilee." If he had 
not risen as he had said, there would have been wanting proof, 
notwithstanding all his miracles, that he was the Messiah. 
We should have known that a divine personage had come 
upon earth to teach us, and that he had undertaken, by his 
mediatorial work, to accomplish our redemption ; but whether 
his undertaking had been successful would have been ever 
doubtful. Who could tell whether his mediation had been 
accepted, and whether a way into the holiest of holies had yet 
been opened to every one that believeth ? But, by his resur- 
rection, all these questions were answered. It was now evi- 
dent that he was all that he claimed to be, and that God was 



164 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

well pleased for his righteousness 1 sake. He had triumphed 
over death, the result of our transgressions ; and hence it was 
evident that, as our nature had vanquished death, it had become 
to us a conquered enemy, ana that sin, which was the cause of it, 
might now be pardoned, and sinners of the human race justified. 

But this was not all. Thus far, there had been no clear 
revelation, either of the fact or the manner of man's immor- 
tality. The ancients generally had a belief of the existence 
of the human spirit after death. The Hebrews, as we have 
seen, called it hades, the place of the invisible. They also 
believed that it was a condition of rewards and punishments. 
A most magnificent poetical description of this state is found 
in the triumphal song of the Hebrews over the king of As- 
syria, in the fourteenth chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. But 
how long this state would continue, whether it was to extend 
without change forever, or to be terminated at some remote 
period, by the return of the soul to this world, they knew not. 
It seems to have been necessaiy, by a visible illustration, to 
bring life and immortality to light ; and thus to abolish death, 
by showing that the power of Deatli had been destroyed, and 
his sceptre broken forever. 

Now, this was accomplished by the resurrection of the 
Messiah. He subjected himself to death. His mangled corpse 
was laid in the tomb of Joseph. A great stone was laid over 
the door of the sepulchre. The seal of the governor was 
placed upon it. A Roman guard was stationed around it, for 
the express purpose of preventing deception. " We remember 
that this deceiver said while he was yet alive, After three 
days, I will rise again : command, therefore, that the sepul- 
chre be made sure until the third day." Every means that 
power or ingenuity could devise, was employed to retain the 
body of the Messiah in the grave, and thus baffle the hopes 
of his bewildered disciples. 

On the morning of the third day, when his followers were 
covered with shame, because they had expected that this had 
been he who was to redeem Israel, while his few remaining 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 165 

friends were already preparing spices to embalm the corpse 
of the teacher whom they loved, that body underwent a most 
miraculous transformation. That change passed upon it which 
we have ever since called a resurrection. The spirit was 
again reunited to it. It became once more instinct with life. 
Remarkable prodigies attended the event. There was a great 
earthquake, " for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, 
and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat 
upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment 
white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and 
become as dead men." Henceforth the Messiah appeared as 
the first fruits of them that slept. 

But what is the meaning of the words, " the first fruits of 
them that slept" ? How was the Messiah the "first fruits" ? 
Several cases had before occurred in which the dead had been 
restored to life, and the spirit recalled to inhabit again its tab- 
ernacle of clay. The young man whose dead body touched 
the bones of the prophet Elisha, arose again to life. The 
prophet himself restored from the dead the son of the Shu- 
nammite woman. Our Lord had raised to life the son of the 
widow of Nain. In a more solemn and public manner, in the 
presence of a multitude, he had recalled the spirit of Lazarus, 
who had lain four days in the grave. These were all cases in 
which the spirit had been reunited to the body after they had 
been for a greater or less time separated from each other. In 
what sense, then, was it true that the risen Messiah was the 
first fruits of them that slept? 

I answer : the difference between the two cases is exceed- 
ing great. Those which I have spoken of were merely 
instances of revivification. The spirit was recalled to inhabit 
again a mortal body, still under the power of death, and, by 
the conditions of its being, again, by necessity, to die as it had 
died before, and crumble back to its original dust. In these 
cases, the power of death was only for a time arrested. It 
was demonstrated that there was a being who had authority, 
when he chose, and in particular instances, to loosen for a 



166 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

moment the bands of death. But in these cases, Death again 
resumed his dominion. Those who had been raised to life, 
were raised only to a mortal life, and were still subject to 
corruption. It was not by these instances shown that an 
immortal life was in reserve for us, and that we were at last 
to come off victorious over the grave. 

But with the resurrection of the Messiah, the case was far 
otherwise. This was not a revivification ; it was a resurrec- 
tion. The mortal body was changed into a glorious, an 
immortal, an incorruptible body, no more liable to death ; and 
with this body the spirit of Christ was again united. It was in 
this glorified body that he appeared after his resurrection. It 
was in this that he ascended. It is this that he wears on the 
right hand of God. It is in this that he is the head over all 
things to his church ; and thus will he continue, until he shall 
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. It is 
in this respect that he is the first fruits. And as he, our 
representative and head, has been clothed with this body, so 
shall every one of us be clothed with a similar, an incorrupti- 
ble body. 

But what is this spiritual body ? I confess I cannot tell. 
There is nothing like it among things material. Neither I nor 
any one on earth has ever seen it ; nor, probably, could we 
cognize it by any of our senses. The apostle Paul, who, in 
the fifteenth chapter of the First of Corinthians, has treated on 
this subject more at large than it is elsewhere treated of, 
speaks of it as a mystery. He pretends not to describe it, but 
reasons analogically to show that our inability to cognize it is 
no proof that it does not exist. All the information which he 
gives is summed up in these words : " It is sown in corruption, 
it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised 
in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is 
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 

Now, with this description, — if indeed description it may be 
called, — the body borne by the Messiah, so far as we can see, 
corresponded. It seems to have changed all its relations to 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 16? 

matter. The stone at the mouth of the sepulchre could not 
confine it. That stone was rolled away, not to allow the spirit- 
ual body of the Messiah to come forth, but to allow the weep- 
ing disciples, who had come to embalm him, to see the place 
where their Lord had lain. Bolts and bars could not exclude 
it, for when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assem- 
bled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, 
and saith unto them, " Peace be unto you." 

It seems to have been a body henceforth incapable of suffer- 
ing from any form of material injury. It yet bore, unharmed, 
the print of the nails in its hands, and that ghastly wound 
in the side, made by the spear of the soldier. " Then saith he 
to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and 
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my sida^ and be not 
faithless, but believing." But these wounds created neither 
pain nor suffering to this glorified body. Nay, are we not 
taught that the spiritual body of the Messiah yet bears those 
scars which it received in its last conflict with our spiritual 
enemies ? " I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, stood 
a Lamb, as it had been slain. And I heard the voice of many 
angels round about the throne, saying with a loud voice, 
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and 
blessing." 

This body of the Messiah seems to have been in all respects 
subject to the will of the spirit which inhabited it. It could, at 
pleasure, be present or absent, in the upper chamber at Jeru- 
salem, or in the mountains of Galilee, or on the shore of the 
lake of Genesaret. Even its outward manifestations to others 
seemed to depend wholly upon the volition of the spirit with 
which it was united. Now, the Messiah seems to his disciples 
as an humble wayfaring man, on the road to Emmaus ; on 
the instant, he appears to them in his proper person, and 
vanishes out of their sight. Sometimes he is not only visible, 
but tangible, so that they can have no doubt of his identity. 
All these manifestations are wholly inconsistent with the ordi- 



168 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

nary laws to which matter is subjected. They belong not to a 
natural, but to a spiritual body. 

All this, I know, is profoundly mysterious. We know ol 
nothing on earth like it. We must receive it as a matter of 
testimony, and we can go no farther. I do not suppose that 
in our present state, we possess the faculties for obtaining any 
more perfect knowledge on the subject. The apostle Paul 
does not pretend to explain it. He, however, teaches us, that 
this doctrine finds its analogy in the ordinary process of vege- 
tation. We plant a seed ; it decays in the ground. Soon it 
germinates, and appears in a form wholly unlike the grain 
which we had planted ; " God having given it a body as it 
hath pleased him." So, now, in the autumn of the year, a 
dry and unsightly seed falls, and is buried in the earth. It lies 
for months beneath the snows of winter. At length, the sun, 
emblem of the Sun of righteousness, warms it with his beams, 
and it rises from its lowly bed in a new and beautiful form, 
resplendent in color, and refreshing in fragrance, to show forth 
the praises of Him who hath clothed it by an act of his omnip- 
otent power. Thus the body of the Messiah was laid in the 
grave, mortal and corruptible ; but soon it appeared clothed 
in the garments of immortality, prepared to ascend and. take 
its appointed place at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 
where he ever liveth to intercede for us. 

It was in this glorified body that 1 suppose our Savior to 
have dwelt for some weeks on earth, showing himself alive by 
many infallible proofs. In this body, as he was blessing his 
disciples on a mountain in Bethany, " he was parted from 
them, and carried up into heaven, and a cloud received him 
out of their sight." In this body he still lives to intercede for 
his people. In this body he will come to judge the world. 
For, said the angels at his ascension, " This same Jesus, who 
is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner 
as ye have seen him go into heaven." When this last act 
shall have been performed, the mystery of redemption will 
have been completed, the history of this world will be closed, 



THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 169 

and the Messiah will surrender up the mediatorial kingdom 
unto the Father, that God may be all in all. 

We see, thus, the nature of the mediatorial work of the 
Messiah. He took upon him our nature; he subjected himself 
to the law appointed for humanity ; he, by his obedience unto 
death, magnified the law which we had dishonored ; he offered 
himself without spot in our stead ; he entered that spiritual 
state which is appointed for us ; there he established his domin- 
ion, and prepared a place for us ; he left the abode of the 
dead, bearing with him a glorified body, like to that in which 
his disciples shall be clothed ; he ascended to his Father and 
our Father, to his God and our God, as our forerunner and 
head, to take possession, in our behalf, of that glorified state, to 
which all his members shall, after the final judgment, be 
introduced. 

If this be so, we can well perceive that the advent and 
work of the Messiah is the one great event in the history of 
our world. It is the visit to our globe of Him " before whose 
face the heavens and the earth shall flee away, and there 
shall be no more place left for them." It is the pivot on 
which the destiny of man was turned from everlasting despair 
to immeasurable and inconceivable hope. It is the act by 
which the condemnation of the second death is lifted off from 
our race, and the way is laid open for us to enter into the 
holiest of holies, through the blood of the everlasting cove- 
nant. If this be so, well may all the previous history of our 
world have been one series of preparations for the coming 
of the Son of man. Well may we anticipate that all its sub- 
sequent history will be so ordained as to unfold the results of 
this great transaction. " The heathen have been given to the 
Son for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for his possession." He is now rapidly unfolding his pur- 
poses, and claiming the promise that was made to him of 
universal dominion. " Because he was made obedient unto 
death, the death of the cross, God hath highly exalted 
him, and given him a name that is above every name ; that 
15 



170 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and eveiy tongue 
confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father. ,, 

A few reflections naturally arise from this subject, to which 
I would call your attention before 1 close this discourse. 

I remarked just now that Jesus Christ is called the first 
fruits of them that slept ; that is, he is the first of those born 
of woman who has passed through all the changes to which 
humanity is appointed. In all this, he is the representative 
of our race. Every one of us must therefore pass through 
all the changes to which I have alluded. We are now in the 
condition of earthly humanity. Soon we all shall lay aside 
these tenements of clay, and enter upon the state of the 
departed. There shall we reside until the morning of the 
resurrection, " when the Lord himself shall descend from 
heaven with a shout, with the voice .of the archangel, and 
with the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall rise 
first ; then shall we which are alive be caught up together in 
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever 
be with the Lord." Every one of us will then be clothed 
with an incorruptible body. Death can no more have do- 
minion over us. The seal of immortality will be impressed 
upon us, never to be erased forever. Such are the changes 
that await every one born of woman. Such is the life and 
immortality which Jesus Christ has brought to light. Irre- 
spective of the truth which he has taught us, all beyond the 
grave is shadows, clouds, and darkness. The light which 
shines from the cross of Christ, under which the believer 
reposes, streams through the dark valley of the shadow of 
death, until it is reflected back from the throne of the King 
eternal, immortal, and invisible. But this is not all. While 
we are thus taught the nature of the changes through which 
humanity must pass, w r e are also taught that, at death, an 
eternal separation must take place between the righteous and 
the wicked. In the spiritual state, the rich man and Lazarus 
were separated from each other by an impassable gulf. At 



THE WORK. OF THE MESSIAH. 171 

the final judgment, Jesus Christ will say to those on his right 
hand, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world," and to 
those on the left hand, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.'" 
" And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but 
the righteous into life eternal." 

It was because we were all exposed to the condemnation 
of the second death, that the Messiah came to our earth, 
assumed our nature, and undertook the work of our redemp- 
tion. For this purpose, he left the glory which he had with 
the Father before the world was ; was born of a woman ; 
was made under the law ; endured the contradiction of sin- 
ners ; was made obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross ; under the hiding of his Father's face, he triumphed 
over our enemies, and said, " It is finished," and gave up the 
ghost ; for us, he entered the place of the departed, and 
there prepared a place for us ; for our justification, he rose 
again, in an immortal body, like unto that with which we 
shall be clothed ; for us, he ascended and is " seated on the 
right hand of the Majesty on high, having obtained eternal re- 
demption for us." This work was accomplished for the whole 
race of man. The conditions of our probation have thus 
been reversed. Irrespective of the work of the Messiah, the 
announcement from the throne of God was, " Cursed is he 
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law 
to do them ; " " but now God can be just and the justifier of 
every one that believeth in Jesus." " Whosoever believeth 
in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." 

The offer of eternal life, through the merits of a crucified 
Redeemer, is freely made to every child of Adam. " It is a 
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners." " The Spirit 
ond the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, 
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whoso- 
ever will, let him take the water of life freely." u plow, 



172 THE WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 

then, we are ambassadors for Christ ; as though God did 
beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye 
reconciled to God.' 1 Such is the most merciful invitation of 
the gospel. The gate of heaven, through the mediation of 
Christ, is as wide open to us as the gate of hell. If, after 
all this, we choose the pleasures of sin, and refuse the mercy 
of God in Christ Jesus, our doom must be inevitable, for 
there remaineth no other sacrifice for sin. We ourselves 
must confess that we are without excuse, and unite with the 
whole moral universe in pronouncing the sentence of our 
own condemnation. " He that despised Moses 1 law, died 
without mercy under two or three witnesses ; of how much 
more punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trod- 
den under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood 
of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy 
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace/ 1 

Can we endure an eternity under such a condemnation as 
this ? Let us, then, now, while it is an acceptable time, seek 
to escape from it. Let us now turn to God by repentance, 
and surrender our whole souls unto him. Like the returning 
prodigal, let us arise and go to our Father, and say unto him, 
" Father, 1 have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight, and 
am no more worthy to be called thy son. 11 While we are 
yet a great way off, our Father in heaven will see us, and 
meet us in love, and say, " Bring forth the best robe, and put 
it on him, for this my son was dead, and is alive again, he 
was lost, and is found." 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 



"A MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, -WITHOUT THE WORKS OF THE LAW." 

Romans iii. 28. 

To be justified, as I have elsewhere said, may have two 
meanings. It may signify that a man has committed no 
crime, and therefore the law has no demand upon him ; or 
that, though he be guilty, yet he is treated as though he were 
innocent ; the demand of the law against him having been, 
for some cause, set aside. That it is used in the context, in 
the second of these senses, is manifest. The apostle is here 
speaking of those whom he has shown to be sinners exceed- 
ingly, and of whom justification, on the ground of the works 
of the law, — that is, of obedience to the law, — could in no 
manner be predicated. It is while speaking of such men, 
who have " sinned and come short of the glory of God," 
that he uses the words of the text, — " therefore we conclude 
that a man is justified by faith, without the works of the law." 

The meaning of the phrase, " without the works of the 
law," may be easily explained. It clearly does not mean 
that there is no connection between justification and keeping 
the law, or between salvation and obedience. Such a senti- 
ment as this would be utterly at variance with every word 
uttered by Christ and his apostles ; nay, with the whole tenure 
of the Scriptures. " He that keepeth my commandments," 
saith the Savior, " he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth 
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will 
manifest myself unto him." " Whosoever heareth these 
15* 



174 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise 
man, which built his house upon a rock." " And every one 
that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall 
be likened to a foolish man, which built his house upon the 
sand.' 1 So, also, the apostle Paul : " What shall we say then ? 
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid. 
How shall we, who are dead to sin, continue any longer 
therein ? " " Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized 
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore we 
arc buried with him by baptism into death, that, like as Christ 
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even 
so we also should walk in newness of life." " Knowing this, 
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin 
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." 
In fact, the whole object of the apostle, in the sixth, seventh, 
and eighth chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, is to show 
that holy obedience is by necessity the result, and the result 
only, of faith in Christ. 

When the text, then, asserts that we are justified without the 
deeds of the law, it cannot mean to teach us that the connection 
between justification and good works is severed by the gospel. 
The passages which I have quoted show, beyond question, that 
good works are essential both to justification and faith ; that 
without good works faith is impossible, and the hope of justifi- 
cation a fallacy. Their meaning, then, must be, that good 
works, the works of the law, are not the ground of our justifi- 
cation in the sight of God, but that the ground of our justifica- 
tion is faith in Christ. It is by virtue of faith in Christ that we 
are pardoned and justified ; and the result of this change in our 
moral condition is a new life, which, by necessity, manifests 
itself in works acceptable to God. The order of these acts is 
then the following : In consequence of faith in Cbn-ist we are 
justified, that is, pardoned, treated by God as just ; by faith, 
also, a new life is commenced in the soul ; and this life ever 
makes itself known by corresponding actions. Thus saith the 
apostle : " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 175 

through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness 
of sinful flesh, and by" (a sacrifice for) "sin, condemned sin 
in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled 
in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." 

If this be true, it follows that it is of the utmost importance 
for us to ascertain, as accurately as possible, the nature of 
faith. This is the subject which I propose to consider in the 
present discourse. It is my desire to present it before you 
with the greatest simplicity, so that every one of us may be 
the better able to determine for himself whether he be, or be 
not, a believer in Christ Jesus. 

I think it must be evident, on inspection, that faith can 
be no one external act. It is spoken of in the Scriptures in 
connection with acts of the most dissimilar character. It is 
referred to, from the commencement to the close of the Bible, 
as that alone which is well pleasing to God under every 
variety of dispensation by which the Most High has made 
himself known. Thus, we are told of the faith by which we 
understand that the worlds were made ; of the faith by which 
Abel offered a sacrifice, by which he obtained witness that he 
was righteous ; of the faith by which Enoch had the testimony 
that he pleased God ; of the faith by which Noah prepared an 
ark to the saving of his house ; of the faith by which Abraham 
obeyed the call to go out into the place which he should after 
receive for an inheritance, and by which he sojourned in the 
land of promise as in a strange country ; of the faith by which, 
when he was tried, he offered up Isaac ; and of the faith by 
which " Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people 
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." We 
read also of the faith of Rahab, of Gideon, of Barak, of 
Samson, of Jephtha, of David, of Samuel, and the prophets. 
In the New Testament we read of the faith by which miracles 
were performed, as well as of that faith by which a sinner is 
justified, and made a new creature in Christ Jesus. 

Nov/, from these examples, it is manifest that faith cannot 



176 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

be any particular act ; for the acts by which it is exemplified 
are as diverse as any of which we can possibly conceive. The 
faith of the Scriptures must then be some temper of mind per- 
vading all these acts, which distinguishes them from other acts 
of the same external character; a temper of mind of a nature 
sufficiently comprehensive to embrace them all, how diverse 
soever they may appear outwardly ; and which shall render 
them all, under all these various external circumstances, ac- 
ceptable to God. It becomes us to inquire, What is this 
temper of mind ? To this question, let us, in the next place 
then, direct our inquiries. 

In order to illustrate this subject, allow me to call youi 
attention to the fact, that all the social relations existing among 
men give occasion to the exercise of various and dissimilar 
affections. The relation of parent and child renders impera- 
tive, on the one part, the feeling of affectionate guardianship, 
and, on the other, of filial love and obedience. The relation 
of brethren of one family imposes upon every member the 
duty of mutual aid, forbearance, and sympathy, and the uni- 
versal feeling from which such acts proceed. The magistrate 
is bound to protect the citizen in the exercise of his rights ; 
the citizen to obey the magistrate in the performance of his 
duty. And, in general, the tempers of mind, emanating from 
these relations, spontaneously arise in our bosoms as a part of 
our common nature. 

Take, for instance, the filial relation. Every one knows 
that the child is bound to love, reverence, and obey its parent. 
We cannot conceive of the character of a parent worthy of the 
name, without feeling that these affections are his rightful due. 
We, on the other hand, ascribe to a child who displays them 
in an eminent degree, a high attainment in virtue. Were 
filial obedience the controlling motive in the bosom of a child, 
we perceive that all his acts, of what kind soever, would 
be pleasing to his parent, considered simply as a parent. 
Whether they were important or unimportant, wise or unwise ; 
whether they had reference to his own happiness, or the 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 177 

happiness of others ; if they were done from simple, unaffected 
filial love, the parent could not but look upon them with 
respect, and, in some important sense, with approbation. 

Now, God stands to us in the relation of a heavenly Parent, 
the Creator and Preserver of all, endowed with every moral 
excellence of which we can conceive. His parental character 
demands from us the temper of filial obedience, or the obe- 
dience of love ; while every one of his attributes demands 
from us some especial form of moral affection. It is manifest 
that he being such as he is, and we being such as we are, it 
becomes us, from choice, to regulate our entire conduct by his 
most blessed will. And, besides this, the veracity of God 
demands that we repose the most implicit confidence in his 
promises. The goodness of God should awaken within us 
unceasing gratitude. The justice of God should create within 
us unwavering trust in the success of virtue. The holiness of 
God should fill us with* profound veneration, and an earnest 
desire to be transformed into his image. All these* and 
various other moral affections, are manifestly incumbent upon 
us as the children of our Father who is in heaven, who has 
formed us in his likeness, and who designs that we should be 
made partakers of his moral nature. They may all be appro- 
priately comprehended under the simple temper of filial love ; 
for of this affection they are all the different manifestations. 
It is this affection, or temper of mind, which I suppose the 
Scriptures to designate under the term faith. 

But it may be asked, How does this affection differ from 
that which exists among the glorified beings in heaven? They 
continually exercise these moral dispositions ; and yet faith is 
never spoken of in the Scriptures as a grace of the heavenly 
rest. Faith is an affection of this present probationary state ; 
and the field for its exercise is limited to the constitution which 
exists on this side the grave. 

All this is true, and it serves still further to illustrate the 
subject. In the upper world, where we see as we are seen 
and know as we are known, there is no opportunity for the 



178 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

exercise of any other affection than perfect love, unmodified 
filial obedience. In the present state, however, this affection is 
modified by the circumstances under which it is called into 
exercise. Here every thing around us is continually tending to 
counteract the exercise of this holy affection. If a man will live 
god lily, he must suffer persecution. The world around us com- 
mands one thing, and God commands another. The punish- 
ments which the world will inflict, if we disobey it, are visible 
and present. The rewards of obedience to God are invisible 
and distant. God, in the present state, reveals his will and 
makes known his promises, and then retires, and leaves us to 
contend with the counteracting influences that surround us. 
Faith is the exercise of filial love, successfully resisting the 
pressure of things present, sensual, and unholy. It is acting 
as God would have us, not when all things incite us to obe- 
dience, but when all things around us incite us to sin. It is 
the temper of mind which thus gives* to things unseen their 
appropriate mastery over things seen ; it is the overcoming of 
the world by the power of holy trust in God ; reliance upon 
his perfections, when every dictate of human wisdom would 
lead us to distrust him. 

If we review the illustrations of the victories of faith pre- 
sented in the eleventh of Hebrews, I think that we shall find 
them all to be pervaded by this element. Thus it was the 
commonly-received opinion, at the time of the apostle, that 
matter was eternal. In opposition to this, it is by faith, simple 
confidence in the testimony of God, that " we know that the 
worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which 
are seen are not made of things that do appear. 1 ' It was by 
virtue of this filial disposition, that Abel offered to God a more 
excellent sacrifice than Cain. It was by trust in the word of 
God, in defiance of the sneers of an unbelieving world, that 
Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. And thus 
Abraham left his father's house, and all the allurements of 
home, and went out, not knowing whither he went, sojourning 
in tabernacles in a land of which he was not permitted to 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 179 

occupy more than a cave for a burial-place. But I need not 
to multiply instances. In these, and all the other instances of 
triumphant faith, you will ever observe the same element. It 
is the temper of filial love, confidence, and obedience, triumph- 
ing over the counteracting influences arising from our present 
state of ignorance and sin, whether they proceed from the 
passions that agitate us within, or the trials that disturb us from 
without. 

And still further : I think that, in the dispensations of his 
providence, God honors the principle of faith, under what cir- 
cumstances soever it may be exhibited. Whenever a creature, 
even though he may not be in other respects obedient, yet on 
any particular occasion, acts from simple confidence in the 
perfections of the Most High, — in that particular case, God 
fulfils to him his promises, and grants to him the benefit of that 
single act of confidence. In this manner Rahab and Gideon, 
and Samson and Jephtha, obtained the rewards of faith. It is 
not necessary, in order to understand the declarations concern- 
ing them in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to suppose that they 
were persons of real piety ; though they may have been really 
pious. All that we need to believe is, that they, under particu- 
lar circumstances, reposed special confidence in the promises of 
God, and acted accordingly. This would insure to them, in a 
particular instance, the benefit of faith ; and hence their suc- 
cess may be enumerated among the triumphs that belong to 
this moral attribute. 

The view of faith which I have here taken is beautifully 
illustrated by an anecdote from Cecil's Remains. His little 
daughter was one day playing with some beads, which delighted 
her wonderfully. He told her to throw them into the fire. 
" The tears," said he, " started into her eyes. She looked 
earnestly at me, as though she ought to have a reason for 
such a cruel sacrifice. ' Well, my dear, do as you please ; but 
you know I never told you to do any thing which I did not 
think would be good for you.' She looked at me a few mo- 
ments longer, and then, summoning up all her fortitude, her 



180 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 



breast heaving with the effort, she dashed them into the fire. 
' Well,' said I, 'there let them lie ; you shall hear more about 
them another time ; but say no more about them now.' Some 
days after, I bought her a box full of larger beads and toys of 
the same kind. When I returned home, I opened the treasure, 
and set it before her. She burst into tears with ecstasy. 
4 Those, my child,' said I, ' are yours, because you believed me, 
when I told you it would be better for you to throw those two 
or three paltry beads into the fire. Now, that, has brought you 
this treasure. But now, my dear, remember, as long as you 
live, what faith is. 1 " I know of nothing that could more 
clearly illustrate my idea of faith than this beautiful incident. 
Had the father brought the larger toys first, and told the child 
to exchange the smaller ones for them, she might have been 
obedient and grateful ; but she would have manifested no faith. 
It was when the spirit o r filial love overcame every other 
impulse, and enabled her to act in view of things unseen, that 
her faith revealed itself. To act towards God, in any case, as 
she acted towards her father, is faith. 

God has taught us in the Scriptures that when a sinner 
cherishes this disposition towards him, he pardons his sins, and 
receives him into the number of his children. It must, how- 
ever, be a feeling which pervades his whole nature, and over- 
comes every opposing impulse. It is the temper of universal 
filial obedience. Having broken the law of God ; on the 
ground of having kept that law, justification is impossible. 
We are, therefore, said to be justified without the deeds of the 
law. God, in virtue of the work of the Messiah in our behalf, 
pardons us, and treats us as just, as soon as he perceives in us 
this filial disposition. And still more : this disposition can 
manifest itself in no other manner than by performing those 
acts which, by necessity, emanate from it ; that is, by good 
works and holy affections. Thus the very disposition, on 
account of which we are justified, insures, by necessary con- 
sequence, that change of character without which we could 
never be acceptable to God. 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 181 

Such, then, is the nature of faith. It is, as we immediately 
perceive, the essential element of piety. It at once places our 
moral nature in harmony with the moral character of God ; 
and thus triumphs over the impulses to evil arising from our 
present probationary and sinful state. And yet more : as it is a 
temper which places us in harmony with every attribute of the 
divine nature that has been revealed to us, it may exist under 
every form of dispensation, and with every degree of spiritual 
illumination. The patriarch Abraham is held forth for our 
imitation as the model of a faithful man, although his knowl- 
edge of the way of salvation must have been obscure, and his 
knowledge of preceptive duty comparatively imperfect. As, 
in subsequent ages, God revealed his character and his will 
more clearly, the same disposition manifested itself in devout 
submission to all the requirements of the Mosaic ritual. It is 
the principle of correspondence in the creature with the moral 
nature of the Creator ; and it is unfolded more and more per- 
fectly with every new revelation which God makes of himself 
to us, the humble dwellers upon his footstool. 

Hence we see at once in what manner the manifestation of 
faith must be affected by the wonderful truths of the new dis- 
pensation. It must transform the soul into practical con- 
formity to the truth which God has revealed concerning his 
Son. Let us, then, observe the effects which the revelation of 
the gospel must have upon a believing soul. 

1. Jesus Christ died to save sinners justly condemned, and, 
therefore, unable by their own works to justify themselves. 
" God commendeth his love to us, in that, while we were yet 
sinners, Christ died for us." " When we were withou* 
strength, Christ died for the ungodly." Faith teaches us to 
place ourselves in precisely the condition which the word of 
God assigns to us ; to confess ourselves helplessly sinful and 
justly exposed to the righteous condemnation of the law of 
God. Thus saith the apostle, under the full impression of 
this truth, " O, wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death ? " 
16 



1S2 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

2. To sinners in this condition God makes known the offer 
of salvation through Christ Jesus. " God so loved the world 
that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Faith 
would teach us, then, renouncing all hope of saving ourselves, 
to confide our souls to Christ as our only and all-sufficient 
Savior. " That I may," saith the apostle, " be found in him, 
not having mine own righteousness, which is by the law, but 
the righteousness which is of God by faith. 

3. Christ is the revealer of the Father's will. " He is the 
brightness of his glory, the express image of his person." 
Faith teaches us to yield up ourselves without reserve, in holy 
obedience to the precepts which Christ has given us. To 
them we must conform our wills, our thoughts, our words, our 
actions, our whole being. " We are not our own ; we are 
bought with a price, thai we should glorify him in our bodies 
and spirits, which are his." Nor this alone. The revelation 
which he has made to us is replete with exceeding great and 
precious promises. Faith teaches us to give to them the 
power of a present and vivid reality. It is thus that it gives 
" substance to things hoped for, and evidence to things not 
seen." 

4. The Father has given to us the Son as our example. 
" He took upon him the form of a servant, and was found in 
fashion as a man." " He was made under the law." Yet he 
was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. In all 
the various trials of a most persecuted and tempted life, he 
was ever the same spotless Redeemer, victorious over every 
spiritual enemy. Thus was there exhibited to us an illustra- 
tion of what the law of God requires of each of us ; thus are 
we taught the manner in which we should live so as to please 
our Father who is in heaven. The temper of filial obedience 
would, then, lead us to strive with our whole spiritual might to 
copy the example which Christ has set before us, to love the 
world as he loved it ; to be crucified to it as he was crucified 
to it ; and, under all the circumstances of a human proba- 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 183 

tion, to esteem it our meat and drink to do the will of our 
Father who is in heaven. 

5. And yet more : while we are maintaining this conflict 
with all the powers of evil, and fighting the fight of faith, it is 
by the aid of Christ alone that we can come off conquerors 
He has promised, if we do his will, to dwell with us and to b< 
in us. He is not only the way, and the truth, but the life, th< 
source, and sustainer of life, to every true believer. Faiti 
would, then, teach us, renouncing all dependence upon ou» 
selves, to rely wholly for spiritual strength on the grace that . j 
in Christ Jesus. Thus the apostle declared, "When I i,,a 
weak, then am I strong ; I can do all things through Je >us 
Christ, which strengtheneth me." And thus every belie /er 
knows that he has power to overcome his spiritual enenies 
only as, in deep self-distrust, he learns to confide in the aid 
bestowed upon him by the Captain of his salvation. 

If it be demanded what are the counteracting influences 
which oppose themselves to prevent a sinner from thus be- 
lieving in Christ, I answer, they arise sometimes from without, 
in the form of allurement or of menace ; but always from 
within, in the resistance of a fallen and sensual nature to the 
holy and spiritual doctrines of the gospel. We do not like to 
acknowledge ourselves in the wrong ; the gospel teaches us 
that without this acknowledgment we cannot come to Christ. 
We do not like to surrender ourselves without any claim of 
merit to the pure mercy of God in Christ ; but, until we thus 
surrender ourselves, we are under the law. Nothing is more 
difficult than to renounce our own will, and submit ouiselves to 
the will of another ; but until we thus subject our whole 
nature to the will of Christ, we are not his disciples. And, 
finally, there is not a corrupt, proud, selfish disposition in our 
whole character, to which the example of Christ is not. in 
direct opposition. All these must be crucified, if we would 
follow his example, and imitate his life. It is the spirit of filial 
obedience triumphing over every unholy passion, that consti- 
tutes a man a new creature in Christ Jesus, and makes him a 



184 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

partaker of the peace that passeth all understanding. Thus, 
in general, we find, I think, that all the scriptural instances of 
faith by which we must be saved, are pervaded by the same 
element ; it is every where the spirit of heaven gaining vic- 
tory over the opposing influences of earth, subduing every 
sensual passion and every selfish affection of a human soul. 

1. If, now, the above explanation of the nature of faith be 
correct, it will teach us the inaccuracy of some of the notions 
which have commonly prevailed on this subject. It has, for 
instance, been frequently affirmed, that, faith is the belief of 
the individual that Christ died for him in particular. If he can 
by any means persuade himself that he is included in the 
number of those for whom an atonement is made, then he is 
included in that number; he is an heir of everlasting life and a 
partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. But, if faith be 
'what I have supposed it to be, such a belief as this has not the 
most distant resemblance to it. It has, in fact, no moral quality 
whatever ; it places us in no new moral relations to God, and 
is not productive of any change in character. All that is 
necessary to produce it, is a determined resolution to believe a 
proposition, whether the evidence in support of it be or be not 
sufficient. And hence, when we would direct the anxious 
inquirer into the way of salvation, our effort should not tend to 
produce in him the belief that he is accepted, but to lead him 
to that state of true submission to God and love to his charac- 
ter, in which faith originates, and which is the essence of all 
real piety. To urge a man to the belief that he is saved 
without this temper of heart, is to practise upon him a gross 
deception. If his moral affection to God be right, peace of 
mind will be its necessary result ; while peace of mind with- 
out it is a lamentable delusion. 

2. If the preceding remarks be correct, we easily learn what 
is meant by the prayer of faith, and the efficacy that is 
ascribed to it. Faith is a moral disposition of the creature in 
harmony with the divine character. The prayer of faith is 
the prayer of a soul in whom this moral disposition predomi- 



JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 185 

nates, and is such prayer just in so far as our desires are 
in harmony with the attributes of God. That prayer shall 
be answered in proportion to its conformity to the will of God, 
is a matter of necessity. That prayer, then, which God 
promises to answer, is the- prayer which proceeds from 
ardent love to him, and unshaken reliance on the perfections 
of his character, no matter how dark and discouraging 
may seem the circumstances that surround us. It is at once 
obvious, that the promise of God to answer such prayer, is 
a very different thing from the promise to answer our prayers 
if we only persuade ourselves that he will certainly hear us. 

3. The view which I have here taken will, I think, enable 
us to understand all the various passages in the Scriptures, in 
which faith is the subject of discourse. The faith of Abel, 
of Abraham, of Moses, of Samuel and the prophets, and of 
Paul and the apostles, as well as of the humblest Christian at 
the present time, all are comprehended under the same idea. 
In every case, it is the temper of filial love triumphing over 
the opposing influences of sin ; and, under the new dispen- 
sation, it is this same disposition exalted and rendered more 
all-pervading, in consequence of the infinite love of God 
revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Thus the 
company of the faithful, on earth and in heaven, are all per- 
vaded by one spirit ; all are in fellowship with God and his 
Son Jesus Christ ; all are members of one body, of which 
Christ is the head, and all heirs of God and joint heirs with 
Christ, to an " inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and 
that fadeth not away." Such are the members of the church 
of the first born whose names are written in heaven. 

4. We learn from the nature of faith, the reasonableness 
of the terms on which salvation is offered to sinners. God 
requires of us, in order that we be saved, nothing more than 
would be our duty if no salvation were promised — nothino- 
more than the exercise, on our part, of filial love towards 
our Father who is in heaven. This he deserves on account 
of the excellence of his own nature, no less than of his 

16* 



1S6 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

exceeding compassion towards us. He surely couid demand 
no less of his intelligent and moral creatures ; and we surely 
could desire to exercise no other feelings towards the infi- 
nitely Good, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. And 
yet, through the abounding mercy of the gospel, he offers to 
all who exercise such an affection, and through it triumph 
over the allurements of sin, eternal life. I do not see how it 
is possible to conceive of more merciful terms of salvation 
than those which are offered to us in the gospel. Well saith 
the apostle, " As ambassadors of Christ, as though God did 
beseech you by us, we beseech you, in Christ's stead, be ye 
reconciled to God.' 1 

And if this be so, if God has made the most merciful offer 
of salvation of which we can conceive, this must be his final 
tender of reconciliation. No man can surely either desire 
or expect that Almighty God would do more than he has 
done to save the guilty from the condemnation which they 
have merited. After this, " there remaineth no more sacrifice 
for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
fiery indignation, that shall devour the adversary." 

It is under these fearful conditions that our probation is 
now passing away. We have merited eternal banishment 
from God. He has given his Son for our offences, and now 
proclaims that " whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, 
but have everlasting life.'" We ourselves must confess that 
no more favorable conditions could be offered. The only 
requirement which he makes is, that we exercise towards 
him a filial, obedient disposition ; that we love, with all our 
heart, Him who is infinitely worthy of our love ; and obey, 
from affection, him who is infinitely deserving of all our 
service. If we refuse, and prefer to continue in causeless, 
unprovoked rebellion against our Father who is in heaven, 
we are condemned of our own consciences. When he shall 
enter into judgment with us, every mouth must be stopped. 
What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee ? 



CONVERSION. 



" Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with 
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Romans y. 1. 

There is, if I mistake not, a very perceptible difference to 
be observed between the examples of piety recorded in the 
Scriptures and those which we now meet with in the ordinary 
intercourse of life. With such men as the apostles, martyrs, 
and confessors of old, unshaken trust in Christ, full assurance 
of salvation, and an abiding consciousness of the indwelling 
of the Savior, formed the foundation on which their reli- 
gious character was built. These very confident beliefs led 
them to sacrifice every thing for Christ, and gain such aston- 
ishing victories over the world. They knew in whom they be- 
lieved ; they were confident that they were pardoned sinners ; 
they were assured that they were children of God, and heirs 
of eternal life, and that their light afflictions, which were for 
a moment, were actually working out for them a far more ex- 
ceeding and an eternal weight of glory. The joy of the Lord 
was their strength. They were as confident of their coming 
salvation, as they were of the veracity of God, who had said, 
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, nei- 
ther shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Nor was 
this steadfast expectation of future glory confined to the apostles 
and their immediate associates. They always spoke of it as 
something attainable, and generally attained, by their brethren 
to whom they wrote. We know, said the apostle, that if 

(187) 



188 CONVERSION. 

this earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a 
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens. Ye took joyfully, said he to the Hebrews, the 
spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have 
in heaven a better and an enduring substance. The same 
apostle prays in behalf of the Ephesians, that they may be 
strengthened mightily by the Spirit, in the inner man, that 
so they might know the love of Christ which passeth knowl- 
edge, and be filled with all the fulness of God. 

I doubt whether this individual confidence in our good es- 
tate could be affirmed of Christians in general at the present 
day. I rather fear that the full assurance of faith has come 
to be the exception rather than the rule. We have a hope, 
frequently a very feeble one, that our sins are pardoned, 
and that we are the children of God. We have occasional 
glimpses of the prospect before us, but too commonly clouds 
and darkness rest upon it. We strive to keep the law of God, 
we continually come short of our expectations ; we do wrong, 
and our hope of final salvation is obscured. We plead for 
pardon and strength, and we are helped ; but again our vigi- 
lance fails, and our faith falters. We hope and fear, trust 
and distrust ; we seem to rely in part on Christ, and in part 
upon ourselves ; hence our course is wavering and unsteady, 
and we make little moral progress. We seem, in fact, to be 
vibrating between the law and the gospel, and thus fail to re- 
ceive the fulness of the blessing purchased for us by the sac- 
rifice of Christ. The same remark quite commonly applies 
to the case of recent converts to Christianity. After the first 
flush of religious joy has subsided, and they begin to look for 
the evidences of piety in their own hearts, they discover so 
much that is imperfect, they come so far short of the mark to 
which they had hoped to attain, that they fall back in discour- 
agement, and doubt whether they have ever been accepted 
of God. 

It is evident that this is a state of mind not anticipated by 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. He came to deliver us not only 



CONVERSION. 189 

from the curse of sin, but from the fear of the curse. It is 
the will of Christ that we should be strong in faith, giving 
glory to God. There is in the gospel every ground for 
firm confidence to those who have fled for refuge to lay hold 
on the hope set before them. Can we do nothing to encour- 
age the faith of the weak believer ? Will there not be some- 
thing accomplished, if we can, in the plainest and most direct 
manner, set before him an intelligible outline of the way of 
salvation ? In regeneration there is a personal dealing of the 
soul with God. There are acts of the soul with God, and 
there are acts of God with the soul. God has made unchange- 
able promises : when the soul believes, he fulfils them, and 
by the power of his Spirit creates the soul anew in Christ 
Jesus. If we can see these truths clearly, and apply them to 
our own individual case, it may help us to discover more 
distinctly the evidences of our adoption, and enable us to rely 
with more confident assurance on the promises of God. To 
attempt this is the object of the following discourse. 

The whole doctrine of regeneration takes its rise from the 
fact that every man is a sinner against God, helplessly and 
hopelessly guilty. The law of the moral universe, under 
which we were created, is holy, and just, and good. It re- 
quires that we shall love the Lord our God with all our 
heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. It requires of us, as of 
necessity it must, perfect obedience. To such obedience 
God has granted the promise of eternal life. But the law 
makes no allowance for any wilful transgression. Cursed is 
he that continueth not in all things written in the book of 
the law to do them. 

But our whole race has broken this law, and risen up in 
rebellion against God. In thought, and word, and deed we 
have violated every commandment. All have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God. There is no man that 
liveth and sinneth not. We love our sin, and deliberately 
prefer it to holiness. We are convicted by our own con- 
sciences as transgressors. Every right affection to God has 



190 CONVERSION. 

vanished from the soul. We prefer our will to his. We de- 
liberately obey the impulses of our passions and appetites, in 
direct violation of his commandments. Our whole moral 
nature is in opposition to the character of our Father in 
heaven. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not 
subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be. Here, 
then, we behold a race of moral and intelligent beings in re- 
bellion against God, enemies to him by wicked works, defy- 
ing his authority, and exposed to the righteous curse of his 
violated law. This is the character of the race, and of every 
individual of it, so that every mouth is stopped, and the whole 
world is guilty before God. 

Such being our condition, salvation through obedience to 
the law is manifestly impossible. The commandment, which 
was ordained unto life, has become death to us by our wilful 
violation of it. Under these circumstances our ruin seemed 
inevitable. A most favorable probation had been granted to 
us, but we had failed utterly in complying with its conditions. 
To make reparation for our wrong was impossible, for our 
moral power had become fatally prostrated. Nay, we had no 
desire to make any reparation, for we preferred sin to holi- 
ness, time to eternity, the indulgence of our passions to the 
love and service of God. A moral helplessness more com- 
plete cannot be imagined. Within the limits of created 
power we were utterly without hope. God could not pardon 
us unless his law was made honorable. We could not make 
it honorable ; and we loved to violate it. No created power 
could help us. We must perish, or the justice of the Most 
High be trampled under foot. There remained for us noth- 
ing but a fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indigna- 
tion, which must devour the adversary. 

Now, these are not mere theological dogmas, to be intel- 
lectually comprehended, they are the simple statement of 
the facts concerning our relations to God, revealed to us with- 
out the least ambiguity. As soon as a soul has been made 
aware of its condition by the illumination of the Spirit, they 



CONVERSION. 191 

become the most vital truths of which the mind can conceive. 
The moment the eyes of the understanding are opened to see 
things as they are, the man perceives that all this is true of 
himself. It is he himself that is just such a sinner, and thus 
exposed, and justly exposed, to the wrath of God. No mat- 
ter what the estimation is in which he has been held among 
men, or what may have been his views of his own desert, — 
no sooner does he compare himself with the holiness of God, 
than he discovers his helpless misery. Thus said Job, Though 
I wash myself with snow water, and make myself ever so 
clean, thou wilt plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes 
shall abhor me. Thus Paul declares, I was alive without 
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, 
and I died. 

It was for our race, thus overwhelmed in helpless guilt, that 
our Father in heaven provided a way of restoration. His 
law must be honored, and he gave up his well-beloved Son to 
magnify and make it honorable. That divine Being, who 
was with God and was God, took upon him our nature, was 
made flesh, and dwelt among us. He honored the law by 
his perfect obedience in our stead, and took it out of the way, 
nailing it to his cross. He bore every thing that infinite ho- 
liness could require, so that we might be pardoned, and the 
purity of the Godhead be unspotted ; or, in the words of the 
apostle, that God might be just, and the justifier of him that 
believeth. God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, 
but have everlasting life. The whole race of man, from be- 
ing under hopeless condemnation, was henceforth placed in a 
salvable state. Every obstacle to our pardon arising from 
the holiness of God was removed ; and from henceforth it 
became a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The con- 
ditions of the old probation had been violated, and it was 
taken out of the way. A new probation is set before us 
through the offering up of Jesus Christ once for us all. This 



192 CONVERSION. 

is the one great stupendous truth which the Scriptures reveal. 
To it every ceremony points, and to illustrate it every 
prophet has spoken, for the testimony to Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy. 

The Scriptures teach us that the atonement of Jesus 
Christ was made for the sins of the whole race of man. The 
whole of our apostate family is considered as one, and for 
all that family is the salvation provided. The remedy was 
as extensive as the disease. All had broken and dishonored 
the law, and in behalf of all was the law magnified and 
made honorable. The effect of this sacrifice reached as far 
and as wide as the ruin that had been caused by sin. Its 
benefit extended from our first parents to all their posterity. 
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. 
As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to 
condemnation, so by the righteousness of one, the free gift 
came upon all men unto justification of life. And in harmo- 
ny with this declaration is the universal offer of pardon 
through Christ. Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
good news to every creature. The Spirit and the bride say, 
Come ; and let him that heareth say, Come ; and whosoever will 
let him come, and take of the water of life freely. It mat- 
ters not, then, where or when a child of Adam has sinned 
against God ; it matters not how vast the number, or how 
great the enormity of his sins ; Christ Jesus came into the 
world, said St. Paul, to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 
When writing to the Corinthians, after enumerating some of 
the most atrocious crimes which have ever disgraced and 
defiled humanity, he adds, And such were some of you ; 
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, 
in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 
A fountain has been opened for sin and iniquity, and every 
individual of the race of man may wash and be clean. 

Thus far we have contemplated two facts which enter into 
the plan of salvation. One is the guilt and moral helplessness 
of man, the other the abundant provision which has been 



CONVERSION. 193 

made for his pardon. It becomes us, in the next place, to 
inquire what are the conditions on which man may avail him- 
self of this provision. On this subject the Scriptures are 
full and explicit. The conditions are repentance towards 
God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Repentance towards God. — The case here stands on this 
wise. Man has broken, times without number, the great 
moral law on which the happiness of the universe depends. 
He has preferred his lusts to God. He has loved and 
obeyed every one, and every thing rather than God. He has 
lived to himself rather than to humanity. He has set at 
nought the authority of God, and is engaged in rebellion 
against him ; and this opposition goes to the deepest recesses 
of his nature, for the carnal mind is enmity against God. 

But all this while God has been absolutely in the right, 
and man absolutely in the wrong. God has required of man 
nothing that was not holy, and just, and good. The man has 
causelessly injured and grieved his Father in heaven. It is 
right that he should come to God and confess his guilt, ac- 
knowledge that he deserves just what the law denounces as 
the punishment of transgression, even if the full penalty of 
the law be exacted of him. It is meet that he take all the 
blame upon himself, declaring from his heart that throughout 
this controversy God has been always in the right, and he 
always in the wrong. He has been engaged in rebellion 
against God ; it is proper that he submit himself wholly, body, 
and soul, and spirit, to the will of his Maker ; resolving, from 
his inmost spirit, that he will henceforth make the service of 
God the great business of his life. All this, I say, is the 
duty of man, irrespective of any hope of pardon. It is the 
temper of the returning prodigal, who could not have been 
received, had he come to his father in any other spirit. This 
is repentance towards God. This he requires of every one 
born of woman, before he can become a partaker of the 
blessings purchased by the sacrifice of Christ. 

Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. — The sacrifice of 
17 



194 CONVERSION. 

Christ was made for the purpose of reconciling mercy with 
justice ; so that the abhorence of God to sin might be manifest 
to the universe, at the same time that he pardoned the sinner, 
and received him to favor. The penitent sinner, as I have 
said, acknowledges his guilt, and confesses that if the penalty 
of the law were enforced, it would be just. How then can 
he be justified ? As the case now stands, he is utterly without 
hope. But Christ has obeyed the law in his stead, and by 
his atonement taken away every obstacle to his pardon. God, 
through Christ, can now be just, and justify him. His only 
hope must rely, not on any thing that he can do, but on what 
Christ has done in his stead. If he ever is saved, he must 
receive salvation as a free gift, purchased by Him that died 
for our sins, and was raised again for our justification. He 
must come renouncing all merit, acknowledging his own ill 
desert, and casting himself .as a perishing sinner on the mercy 
of God in Christ Jesus. This is faith in Christ — the other 
condition on which our pardon and salvation depend. 

Now, to every penitent and believing sinner our Father in 
heaven holds out the offer of unconditional pardon. No mat- 
ter how deep may have been the stain of his guilt, no matter 
how long-continued the life of rebellion, — a pardon is offered 
to all who thus come to God, trusting in the merit of his 
Son. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. 
The promise is, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall 
be as wool ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be 
whiter than snow. There is henceforth no condemnation to 
those that are in Christ Jesus, and whosoever cometh unto him 
he will in no wise cast out. Such is the offer of eternal life 
made to every penitent sinner ; an offer of free, unconditional 
pardon, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified. 

Here, then, we have a sinner convinced of his guilt, and 
acknowledging the justness of his condemnation, an atone- 
ment for sin, through which a full and free pardon is offered, 
and the terms made known by which every one may avail 
himself of this offer of pardon ; and these terms are the 



CONVERSION. 195 

most reasonable, the most merciful, the most compassionate 
that could be conceived. What, then remains in order that 
a sinner may be saved ? 

One thing is now needful. It is that he come before the 
God against whom he has sinned, and acknowledge all this to 
him. It will not do that a man know it all, and feel it all, 
and keep it all within his own bosom. Religion is not a series 
of emotions, shut up within ourselves ; it is a transaction be- 
tween ourselves and God. The man has sinned against God, 
and he himself must, as an individual sinner, be reconciled 
to God. It is just as much a transaction between himself and 
God, as though he and his Maker were the only beings in ex- 
istence. The prodigal son was first convinced of his wretch- 
edness ; but this did not help him. He resolved to arise and 
go to his father. This did not bring about -his reconciliation. 
He arose and went to his father. This was the point on 
which his destiny was suspended. When he arose and went, 
and not till then, his father had compassion, and when he was 
yet a great way off, ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 
Thus is it with us. We may know that we are sinners, 
guilty and justly condemned ; this will not do. We may re- 
solve that we will break off from sin ; this will not do. We 
may know that we can have no peace of conscience until our 
wills are in subjection to the will of God ; this will not do. 
We may believe that there is salvation in no other name but 
the name of Christ ; this will not do. We must go, each one 
for himself, before God, and act out our beliefs at his feet. 
We must acknowledge our sins before him, and confess to 
him our guiltiness. We must surrender up our whole selves 
to him, desiring hereafter to do nothing but that which shall 
please him. We must renounce all hope of saving ourselves 
by any thing that we can do, and plead for a free and full 
pardon for the sake of Him that loved us and gave himself 
for us. This is submission to God. This is faith in Christ. 
The sinner acknowledges himself to be just what God has de- 
clared him to be, and in child-like obedience, comes to his 



196 CONVERSION. 

Father in heaven, bows before him in penitence, and looks 
for pardon to the blood of the everlasting covenant. 

Now, to such a one the promise of God is in words like 
these : Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. 
Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted 
out. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so is the Son of man lifted up, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And 
God fulfils this promise to the letter. Whenever a sinner thus 
penitently draws near to God, looking for salvation to the 
blood of the atonement, that moment God docs pardon him. 
He places him at once beneath the shelter of the atonement, 
and gives him a title to all the blessings which that atonement 
has purchased. The law in his stead has been satisfied. It 
has no more claim upon him, that being dead by which he 
was held. To every one of its demands he can now plead 
the finished obedience of Christ, who for him magnified the 
law, and made it honorable. lie has from his heart accepted 
the terms of the new probation, and is entitled to all its bless- 
ings. From being an enemy he has become a child of God. 
God can be more honored in pardoning than in condemning 
him. He is one with Christ, and his life is hid with Christ in 
God. He is received into the family of the redeemed, and 
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over another 
sinner that has repented. Being justified by faith, he has 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom 
he has received the atonement. 

And now, concerning this act of our Father in heaven, I 
remark, it takes place at the moment when a sinner repents 
of his sin, and casts himself without reserve on the sacrifice 
of Christ. God has promised that if the sinner will repent and 
believe, he shall be saved ; the sinner repents and believes, and 
God saves him. There may be yet about him much imper- 
fection and evil ; this will be cleansed away in the work of 
sanctification. Day by day he gains victory over the sin that 
dwelleth in him, as he is made more and more meet to be an 



CONVERSION. 197 

inheritor with the saints in light. The progress may be 
gradual, but this has nothing to do with the fact that his rela- 
tions with God are changed for eternity. He has already be- 
come an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. 

And again, it is a full justification. It covers all his sins. He 
is delivered forever from the curse of the law. He has cast 
himself on the righteousness of Christ ; he has been received 
and placed under the shadow of the atonement, and for the 
sake of the Redeemer he is, in the sight of God, as though he 
had never sinned. And it is a. free salvation. He has noth- 
ing wherewith to purchase it, and he offers nothing. He ac- 
cepts it as the free gift of God to the most undeserving. 
His whole salvation, is thus the work of God in Christ, and 
hence his song will ever be " Unto Him that loved us, and 
washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory, and honor, 
and power, forever and ever.'' 

But an anxious inquirer may perhaps suggest, All this is 
very encouraging, and I delight to think of it ; but how shall 
I ascertain that this is my portion. What you have told us is 
concerning an act of God. He does thus pardon sins and 
receive the returning penitent ; but how can I know that he 
has pardoned and received me? I will endeavor to answer 
this question as distinctly as I am able. 

In the first place, when a soul thus repents of sin and casts 
itself for salvation on Christ, this very act frequently is blend- 
ed with a confident trust that God has done as he has said. 
The soul relies with full faith in the promises, and the con- 
sciousness that we have really submitted to God creates the 
assurance that He has received us into the number of his chil- 
dren, and thus the awful dread of the judgment to come is ex- 
changed for the peace that passeth understanding. 

But some one will say, This consciousness is a mere emo- 
tion ; it is liable to pass away, and leave the man in a condi- 
tion in no manner improved. At best it is but evanescent, 
and seems hardly a foundation on which to build for eternity. 
Is there no other evidence of pardon bestowed upon a peni- 
17* 



198 CONVERSION. 

tent sinner ? I answer, There is another and more infallible 
evidence ; it is the change which a man perceives in his own 
moral affections. When God pardons a sinner, and receives 
him into the family of the holy, he puts his mark upon him, 
the image of Christ, engraved upon his inmost spirit. The 
Holy Spirit, by his almighty power, transforms the affections 
of the soul so that the man feels within himself that he is an- 
other creature ; old things have passed away, and all things 
have become new. He was the slave of passion and appe- 
tite ; now his love for the things that perish is subdued, and he 
is conscious that he is delivered from the bondage of sin. He 
was living for himself; now he lives only to please his Savior. 
The pleasures of the world have lost their attraction, for his 
affections are taken from things below, and fixed on things 
above. The objects that were once most distasteful are now 
the sources of his most refined enjoyment. He loves the 
word of God ; he loves to pour out his soul in secret prayer 
and praise ; he loves to bear hardness and endure suffering 
for Christ, and takes joyfully the loss of all things, for the 
sake of Him who died to redeem him. He has now no pleas- 
ure in the company of sinners ; but his chosen companions 
are the men in whom he sees most evidently the image of 
Christ. And from such a change of moral affections there 
results, of necessity, a change in his manner of life. This is 
the law of Christ that we keep his commandments. The 
frivolous and unsatisfied child of fashion is transformed into 
the thoughtful, earnest, heavenly-minded saint. The faithless 
man becomes truthful, the vindictive forgiving, the passionate 
man becomes meek, the sensual temperate, the selfish man 
self-denying, and the habitually-profane would rather die than 
utter an oath. Such are some of the fruits of the Spirit — 
the outward evidences of that inward change wrought in the 
soul by the almighty power of God, when he pardons and 
accepts it for the sake of the Beloved. He who is conscious 
of such' an inward change, and observes its transforming 
power upon his whole character, cannot but know that he is 



CONVERSION. 199 

a new man. He is certain that such a change can have been 
wrought by nothing but the power of God, and he knows 
that God exerts this power only in those who are called to be 
saints. This change in his moral affections is the unmistaka- 
ble evidence that he is a child of God. Thus he that believ- 
eth hath the witness in himself. This change of our spiritual 
affections, manifesting itself in our outward conduct, is the 
evidence, not only to ourselves, but to others, that we have 
passed from death unto life. 

Such, then, as I suppose, are the essential elements enter- 
ing into the change which we denominate conversion, change 
of heart, being born again, or regeneration ; the change with- 
out which, our Savior declares, we cannot see the kingdom 
of God. I say these are, as I suppose, the essential elements. 
I do not say that they can always be recognized in this pre- 
cise order, or that the several spiritual changes are manifest- 
ed to our own consciousness always in the same manner. 
Sometimes light breaks in upon the soul suddenly ; at other 
times it is revealed to us almost insensibly. Sometimes con- 
version is attended by great mental distress ; at other times 
the goodness of God leads us to repentance. With one the 
change in moral affections seems at once universal, and sud- 
denly transforming ; with another it seems to display itself 
gradually, as from time to time the occurrences of daily life 
call it into exercise. In all these respects the Spirit of God 
acts with great diversity of operation. What is essential to 
conversion is, that we do really submit ourselves, without any 
reserve, to the whole will of God, that we renounce from the 
heart every thing sinful, that we acknowledge his justice in 
our condemnation, and as lost sinners look for pardon through 
Jesus Christ. If we do this, God does really pardon us ; 
and the evidence that he has done it is found in the spirit 
which he has given us — a spirit of active, filial obedience, an 
honest, prevalent desire to bear hardness for Christ, and under 
all circumstances to prefer his favor to all that this world can 
offer, and in defiance of all that it can threaten. If we can 



200 CONVERSION. 

recognize within us such elements as these, it matters not how 
they have arisen, or when they first appeared ; they are the 
evidences, according to the Scriptures, that we are the chil- 
dren of God. 

And now, let me inquire, is there not in these truths much 
ground for consolation to many a trembling believer ? You 
may be doubting your acceptance with God, because your 
religious experiences are unlike those of many around you ; 
or because the intensity of your emotions is less than theirs ; 
or because you see such imperfection in the discharge of your 
religious duties, and gain so few victories over the world, 
which is ever alluring you. Let me then ask, Do yon really 
repent of sin? Do you desire with your whole heart to be 
delivered from it ? Do you, in practice as well as in theory, 
submit yourself to the whole will of God, and rely for par- 
don entirely on the great sacrifice of the gospel ? And is it 
your sincere desire to please Christ, taking up your cross and 
following in his footsteps, and bearing hardness for his sake ? 
If such be your character, then God has pardoned you, and 
received you into the number of his children. You are a re- 
deemed soul, purchased by the blood of Christ, and you may 
humbly, and yet confidently, take to yourself all the blessing of 
the promises. Your salvation is not the work of your own 
hands, but the result of the righteousness of Christ. You may 
go to God as your reconciled Father in Christ. Your best 
obedience is imperfect ; you frequently err, and grieve your 
Savior ; but if you make no allowance for sin, and really 
strive to be holy, as he is holy, you have an Advocate with the 
Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. Rely with child-like 
and affectionate confidence upon him. Be assured that he 
loves you, and is touched with the feeling of your infirmities. 
You may seem to yourself to be fighting this warfare alone, 
forgotten and neglected by your Savior ; but it is not so. He 
is every moment watching over you, delighted to see in you 
every struggle against evil, and every victory over the sin 
that besets you. He never forgets a single cross you bear, 



CONVERSION. 201 

or a single pain you suffer for him. Go to him with all your 
trials, and all your unbelief, and plead with him as one of the 
redeemed ones, for whom he has died, and to whom he has 
promised eternal life. Thus you will honor him by confi- 
dence in his promises, and the joy of the Lord will be your 
strength. 

And the same remarks may be addressed to those who are 
convinced of their lost condition, and, so far as they know, 
have submitted themselves to God, but yet have no hope of 
pardon and salvation. They are expecting some miraculous 
manifestation, or some overwhelming emotion, or some over- 
powering consciousness of acceptance ; and experiencing 
none of these, they are in painful doubt and sore perplexity. 
It may be that the view which we have here taken of conver- 
sion may shed some light upon the path of such a one. 

Let us, however, in the first place, be honest with you 
Have you really renounced your sins, submitted your whole 
being to God, and asked for mercy through Christ, as a free 
gift from him ? It is not enough that you know yourself to 
be a sinner, overwhelmed in helpless guilt. You must go 
to God, and acknowledge it to him. You must confess 
your ill desert at his feet, and while you tell him that he 
would be just if he never heard your prayer, plead with him 
for mercy for the sake of his well-beloved Son. You must 
arise and go to your Father. Nor is this a distinction with- 
out a difference. It is by no means uncommon to meet with 
persons who are thus fully aware of their guilt, but who have 
never bowed the knee to God in prayer. In such cases, 
frequently after a long season of most agonizing distress, the 
very first time the sinner has bowed himself before God, his 
burden has been removed, and he has felt that his deadly 
wound has been healed. Nor is it enough to do this theoreti- 
cally ; it must be a real acting of the soul. We sometimes 
meet with anxious inquirers, who have been long in darkness, 
who tell us that they have submitted their hearts to God, and 
yet have no hope of salvation. They, in feeling, submit them- 



202 CONVERSION. 

selves to God, but they are not doing his will. They mean to 
obey him when he shall reveal himself to them ; but they sup- 
pose that until this has been done they are under no obliga- 
tion to serve him. They are, in fact, making a compromise 
with God ; they will serve him, if he will first pardon and 
save them. Hence there is much within them which is not 
yielded up to God, and they suppose it is not to be yielded up 
until they receive assurance of pardon. Now, all this is an 
error, and it may be fatal. We are not only to say that we 
submit our whole selves to God ; we are actually and without 
reserve to do it. We are not only to be willing to renounce 
every thing at variance with his will ; we are actually to re- 
nounce it. We are not only to be willing to serve him ; we 
are, at once, to do whatever we believe will please him. We 
are not only to believe that Christ is a complete Savior ; we 
are to come, renouncing every merit of our own, and cast 
ourselves on him alone for salvation. Now, I would say to 
such an inquirer, Hast thou sincerely and from thy heart not 
only thought about all this, but actually done it ? If so, the 
promise of God standeth sure to thee — " Him that cometh 
unto me I will in no wise cast out." Christ has not cast thee 
out ; he has pardoned and received thee. It is not a thing to 
be done at some future time ; it has been done already. 
And thou wilt find the witness in thyself if thou wilt but look 
for it. Thou wilt discover, if thou wilt compare thy present 
with thy former character, that thy moral afTections are even 
now transformed. Thy desires, thy aversions, thy pleasures, 
the object for which thou art living, have all been changed. 
The process may have seemed gradual. The time when it 
commenced may not have been evident to thy own conscious- 
ness, but it is apparent, if thou wilt only observe, that thou 
art not the same person thou wast a short time since. Old 
things have passed away, and all things have become new. 
This is the evidence which God has bestowed upon us, that 
he has received us. Accept it with thankfulness, do his will 
from the heart, and go on thy way rejoicing. 



CONVERSION. 203 

And now, lastly, let me ask, is there in all this, any thing 
mystical, mysterious, or incomprehensible ? Does it not, on 
the contrary, approve itself to the common sense and com- 
mon conscience of every thoughtful man ? If we have done 
wrong, if we have abused confidence, if we have trampled 
on rightful authority, if we have grieved our best friend by 
the basest ingratitude, ought we not to be deeply sensible of 
it, and from our hearts regret it ? If we have done all this 
to God, should we not go to Mm with our confession, and, 
each one for himself, cast ourselves at his feet, disavowing 
our conduct, and humbly asking that he will forgive us ? If 
we can make no reparation for our conduct, but are helpless- 
ly guilty, and God has provided a way, at the cost of an in- 
finite sacrifice, by which he can pardon us without sullying his 
holiness, ought we not thankfully to accept of his mercy, and 
cast ourselves for salvation upon the merits of his well-be- 
loved Son ? And he has promised that, if we will do this, he 
will accept us as if we had never sinned, and bestow upon 
us the gift of eternal life. Can any terms be imagined more 
full of compassion, or better adapted to our sad and helpless 
need ? I call, then, upon every man at once to repent, and 
believe in Christ, and to do it now. There is no time to be 
lost. God will not always continue to offer to you salvation. 
If you despise and wonder, you will certainly perish. If you 
do nothing but delay, and day by day put off the work of 
conversion until to-morrow, you will just as certainly perish. 
This controversy with your Maker must come to a crisis at 
some time or other. You may be reconciled to him now, 
while it is an acceptable time. You may delay until death 
shall seize you at a time when you are not aware, and then 
it will be settled at the day of judgment, when the books are 
opened, and the sentence goes forth upon every impenitent sin- 
ner, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
devil and his angels." From such a doom may God, for 
Christ's sake, deliver us. 



IMITATORS OF GOD 



" Be ye therefore followers of God." 

Ephesians v. 1. 

To beings like ourselves, heirs of immortality, shortly to 
be judged according to the deeds done in the body, the culti- 
vation of our spiritual nature must be the great end of our 
probation. We can carry beyond the grave no distinction 
except that founded on moral character. At death the prince 
puts off his purple, and the beggar his rags ; the judge lays 
aside his ermine, and the convict his chain ; the rich man 
bids adieu to his banquet, and the pauper to his crust. The 
flashing diamond and the snow-white pearl no longer adorn 
the child of luxury as she sleeps her dreamless sleep, and the 
worm riots no more daintily on her than on the unknown 
peasant girl that slumbers at her side. The dust of both is 
scattered without distinction to the winds of heaven. The 
places that once knew them shall know them no more for- 
ever, and their record is quickly blotted out from the memory 
of man. 

All this is of the earth, earthy. The dust returns to the 
earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 
The soul, distinguished only by its moral lineaments, appears 
without disguise at the bar of eternal justice. Every one of 
us must give account for himself before God. By the moral 
character which we have formed on earth will our destiny be 
determined forever. Every one of us will then stand con- 
fessed the friend or the enemy of God. Classes so intensely 

(204) 



IMITATORS OF GOD. £05 

unlike must, by necessity, be separated from each other. 
44 Then shall the King say, Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world ;" or, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels. These shall go away into 
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." 

That every one of us must thus die, be forgotten on earth, 
and be judged by God for the deeds done in the body, I pre- 
sume you all believe. Did I not, then, say truly, that the 
cultivation of our spiritual nature is the great end of our 
present existence? All else that men seek after, — wealth, 
rank, political power, social position, nay, even learning, and 
intellectual improvement, — are, in comparison with the prep- 
aration of our souls for heaven, but as the small dust of the 
balance. " What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, 
and lose his own soul ? " Nay, " What shall a man give in 
exchange for his soul ? " 

But how shall our spiritual nature be cultivated ? I answer, 
By doing our duty. We are not prepared for the awards of 
eternity by the accumulation of wealth, by the enjoyment of 
pleasure, by the attainment of position, or the exercise of 
power ; but by keeping the commandments of God, and thus 
being transformed into his image. He is our Father, our Law- 
giver, and our Judge. His favor is life, and his loving kind- 
ness is better than life. If our moral character is in harmony 
with his, if we love him with child-like affection, and serve 
him with filial obedience, every where, in this world or the 
next, throughout all duration, whether now or millions of ages 
hence, we must, from necessity, be happy ; for we are 
always surrounded by the presence of a loving Father, and 
we are ever greeted by his approving smile. 

Hence we learn the unspeakable importance of those 
teachings respecting our duty which he has scattered so pro- 
fusely around us. The heavens above and the earth beneath 
speak to us of his boundless wisdom and irresistible power, 
and present before us innumerable indications of his will. 
18 



206 IMITATORS OF GOD. 

The dealings of his providence, both with individuals and with 
nations, teach us his love of righteousness and his hatred of 
wrong, and clearly intimate that though he hears the sigh of 
the penitent, he will in no wise clear the guilty. We may 
thus, from the things that are made, understand much of his 
eternal power and Godhead ; so that, if we had no other 
teaching, we should be clearly without excuse. Had our 
Father in heaven, having bestowed upon us our various en- 
dowments, given us no other light than the light of nature, he 
would have dealt with us justly. With these means alone of 
knowing our duty and becoming imitators of him, we should 
have been under imperative and solemn obligations to love 
and serve him. 

But such was not his will. Our condition was too momen- 
tous to be left to the least contingency. Hastening as we were 
to eternity, — an eternity depending for its happiness or misery 
wholly on our moral resemblance to him, — he condescended, 
by a written revelation, to make us acquainted with our duty. 
Age after age he spoke to us by prophet and by seer, and 
thus made known to us spiritual truth. For this purpose he 
appeared to Moses amidst the lightnings and thunderings of 
Mount Sinai. He touched the lips of Isaiah with fire from the 
altar, and revealed himself to Daniel, the man greatly be- 
loved, and to other inspired men, in the visions of the old dis- 
pensation. Last of all, he spoke to us by his Son, who is the 
brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. 
Lest his will should be misunderstood, when made known to 
us by men weak and fallible like ourselves, God was made 
flesh and dwelt among us to reveal the pure light from 
heaven, unobscured by transmission through the medium of 
a sinful and finite intelligence. The will of our Father in 
heaven is thus made known to us so clearly that we cannot 
mistake it, unless we love darkness rather than light. And 
lest, even then, we should still remain thoughtless and un- 
moved, he has sent his Spirit to take these truths and present 
them before us, so that we cannot help knowing both our 



IMITATORS OF GOD. 207 

duty and our danger. Behold, then, the boundless compas- 
sion of our Father in heaven. He knew, as no finite intelli- 
gence can know, the infinite importance of the preparation 
of our souls for heaven, and he has left no conceivable 
means untried, to give us a perfect knowledge of his will, and 
teach us how, by being made like him, we may dwell in his 
presence forever. I put it to your consciences, my fellow- 
men — could our Father in heaven do more for us than he has 
done ? He has taught us by men like ourselves, and has 
sent his beloved Son to be our instructor, and has enforced 
his instructions by the enlightening of his Holy Spirit. If, 
now, we will not learn our duty, our case must be desperate, 
and we must fail under the condemnation of those that knew 
their duty, but they did it not. 

And here we cannot but observe what seems a peculiarity, 
if not an infirmity, of our nature. Precept alone rarely pro- 
duces upon us the impression which might justly be expected. 
We may acknowledge the authority of the teacher, we may 
comprehend the reasonableness of the command ; but not un- 
frequently our spirit rises in resistance simply because it is a 
command. " When the commandment came," said the apostle, 
" sin revived." We wait to see the precept exemplified by the 
obedience of others before we yield to it the practical control 
over our conduct. Hence the wonderful effect of example in 
swaying the affections and directing the opinions of mankind. 
Without any precept whatever, example frequently accom- 
plishes what the naked commandment could never hope to 
effect. John Howard might have spent his life in discoursing 
upon criminal jurisprudence, and have died, without seeing the 
woe of a solitary prisoner alleviated. He, however, took the 
opposite course, and chose to act by example. He set him- 
self at work to reform the prison in his own immediate 
neighborhood, and when this was done he proceeded to the 
regions beyond ; nor did he cease from his labor until he had 
fathomed the depth of misery that existed in every prison 
house of Europe. It was in this manner that he inculcated 



208 IMITATORS OF GOD. 

the precept, " Remember those that are in bonds as bound with 
themi" and so inculcated it as to work a change in the opin- 
ions of mankind. Robert Raikes wrote no works, that I ever 
heard of, on the religious education of the young, or the obli- 
gation of Christians to instruct the children of the poor in the 
knowledge of God. He established a Sabbath school, how- 
ever, in the city of Gloucester, and the consequence has been 
that Protestant Christendom is, at this moment, covered with 
Sabbath schools. In this manner he inculcated the precept, 
" Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is 
old he will not. depart from it." 

My brethren, do you not perceive the lesson that is to be 
learned from all this ? Do you not see that a power for the 
accomplishment of good has been bestowed upon you which 
you never yet apprehended ? When the duty is pressed upon 
you of doing good to your brethren, one of you replies,' 4 1 am 
not learned ;" another, " I am not wealthy ;" another, " I cannot 
write a book ;" another, " I am not eloquent ;" and another, " 1 
have no influence." All very well ; but what of it? You have 
hands, and feet, an understanding, and a conscience. Em- 
ploy them, just as God has given them to you, in doing some 
good thing, no matter how small it may seem to human ap- 
pearance. Put your own heart into it, and labor at it in deep 
humility, and with child-like faith. Do not ask others to help 
you until you have set an example of doing all you can your- 
self. Do not wait until an opportunity presents itself of 
doing some great thing a thousand miles off; but take the 
first thing that presents itself at your very door. Labor 
at it until God, by his providence, shall command you to 
cease, and see what will come of it. If it be a seed which 
the Lord has planted, it will assuredly spring up and bear 
fruit ; and though the beginning be small, the latter end will 
greatly increase. And, even if nothing comes of it beyond 
the immediate good which you do with your own hands, be 
not discouraged ; you will have received a rich blessing in 



IMITATORS OF GOD. 209 

your own soul. " Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of 
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

Intimately allied to this is another peculiarity of our moral 
nature. The idea of law, as indicating restraint, is specially 
distasteful to the human mind, unless the legislator is himself 
subjected to the enactment which he enforces upon others. 
We require that he who makes the law shall himself pre- 
sent the first example of submission to it. When this is 
done, our repugnance generally vanishes. We look at it as a 
rule made for all of us in common, and feel assured that it 
was intended for the public good, inasmuch as the legislators 
themselves are the very first to bow to its authority. 

Now, even for these peculiarities of our nature our Father in 
heaven has mercifully made provision. In infinite conde- 
scension, he has practically exemplified obedience to every 
precept which he has imposed upon us. 

The laws under which he has placed us are substantially 
two. The first is the law of simple benevolence and univer- 
sal love. We are commanded to love him with all our hearts, 
and our neighbor as ourselves. This commandment was im- 
posed upon our first parents on the day of their creation. It 
binds us to child-like and supreme affection to God, and im- 
partial love to universal man. It bids us look upon every hu- 
man being as our brother, no matter how stolid may be his 
ignorance, how brutal his degradation, and how causeless 
the injury which he may have inflicted upon us. We are to 
treat all men, simply because they are men, the children of 
one common Parent, with fraternal good will, ever desiring 
to minister to the happiness and alleviate the sorrow of our 
brethren, so that each one of us may be a centre of social 
endearment to every circle by which we are surrounded. 
For this reason God has placed in our hands, in different pro- 
portions, the blessings of this life. He has made some rich 
and others poor, and long ago he announced to us that the poor 
should never cease out of the land. We are to consider 
every possession as a sacred trust, placed in our hands, not 
18* 



210 IMITATORS OF GOD. 

for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all. Such is the 
rule which our Father in heaven most mercifully has laid 
down for the government of our conduct. 

And he who enacted this law has enforced it, first of all, 
by his own example. Creation, from its first conception to 
ts last result, is one unceasing act of love to man. This 
goodly heritage was prepared for us, by omniscient wisdom, 
before the morning stars sang together, or ever the sons of 
God shouted for joy. Man was not placed upon the earth 
until every arrangement had been made, not only for his 
reception, but for the sustentation and well-being of all 
the myriads that ever should inhabit it. Year after year, 
through the long lapse of ages, has he visited the earth with 
the inexhaustible loveliness of spring, the maturing heat of 
summer, the abundant gifts of autumn, and the solemn repose 
of winter, filling our hearts with food and gladness. But this 
universal provision did not satisfy the infinite benevolence of 
our heavenly Father. His eye rests with compassion on 
every single intelligent being. These countless millions through 
the ages have been individually dependent upon his bounty ; 
day by day he has sent a portion to every household, and 
spread a table for every family. Nor does he limit his bene- 
fits to those that love and adore him. The bold blasphemer 
and the humble penitent share alike in his daily bounty, and 
at night are soothed to rest under the shadow of his protec- 
tion. Even the tribes of irrational beings seek their meat 
from God. What he giveth them they gather; he openeth 
his hand and satisfieth the wants of every living thing. He 
hears the young ravens when they cry, and stoops down to 
scatter crumbs in the pathway of the sparrow. 

And now, having given us such a precept, and set before 
us such an example, God calls upon us not only to obey, but 
to imitate him. " Be ye therefore followers [imitators] of God." 
Speaking to us by the lips of his well-beloved Son, be saith to 
every one of us, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that 



IMITATORS OF GOD. 211 

despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the 
children of your Father who is in heaven ; for he maketh his 
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the 
just and on the unjust. Be ye therefore merciful, as your 
Father in heaven is merciful." 

But this world has been ruined by sin. Every child of 
Adam has corrupted himself, and in consequence of rebellion 
against God, is exposed to the condemnation of everlasting 
death. It was the purpose of God to redeem our race, and 
transform it again into his own image. To accomplish this, 
God made a most gracious provision for the pardon of our 
sins. The way of escape from the doom which we deserved 
was thrown wide open. God could be just, and justify him 
that believeth. Nay, more, he sent his Holy Spirit to show 
us the things which respect our salvation. And having done 
all this, he committed the work to the ministration of men 
themselves. He requires that every one of his children 
shall be a co-worker with him, and make it the business of 
his life to rescue men from everlasting death, and thus carry 
forward his purposes of mercy towards our lost and sin- 
smitten race. " Ye are," said the Savior, " the light of the 
world." 

But it seems to be an established law in the government of 
God, that we are never permitted to confer great blessings 
upon our brethren except through the medium of suffering 
and self-sacrifice. The patriotism that has rescued nations 
from oppression, presents itself before us scarred and gory 
from the battle field and the scaffold, scorned by the few^ neg- 
lected by the many, but opening a new career of liberty and 
honor to the very men who could not comprehend the great- 
ness of its undertaking. And thus the religion of Christ has 
won its most signal victories in dungeons and at the stake, 
and its holy champions, who by faith subdued kingdoms, had 
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds 
and imprisonment ; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, 
were tempted, were slain with the sword, and wandered about 



212 IMITATORS OF GOD. 

in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tor- 
mented, of whom the world was not worthy. 

The great work of the disciple of Christ is to subdue the 
world to his Master ; and this work he can hope to perform 
only by self-sacrifice. The faith of the gospel is then some- 
thing more than trust in Christ, and grateful love for his par- 
doning mercy. It involves nobler, and higher, and sterner 
elements than these. It calls upon us to universal self- 
sacrifice for the salvation of men. It has nothing that it calls 
its own ; all is laid on the altar, and all is consecrated to the 
service of the Master. Immortal souls for whom Christ died 
are at stake, and there is nothing that we must not cheerfully 
suffer, nothing that we must not relinquish, that we may be 
the means of conferring on them the boon of eternal life. 
Does the work of Christ require our property, we must give 
it. Is our personal service demanded, we must render it ; 
nay, we must seek for occasions in which to employ it. Do 
the pleasures of sense, or of taste, or of literature, or of social 
distinction impede us in our labor we must surrender them. 
If a right eye causes us to offend, — and a right eye is very 
dear, — we must pluck it out. If a right hand interferes 
with our entire consecration to Christ, — and a right hand is 
very useful, — we must cut it off. The path of duty may 
lead through the valley of humiliation, — we must follow it 
fearlessly. We may be called to suffer reproach and have our 
names cast out as evil, — let us bear it exultingly, rejoicing 
that we are counted worthy to suffer reproach, for the name 
of Jesus. A service may be laid upon us which can only be 
performed at the peril of our lives, — we must willingly peril 
them to save the souls for whom Christ died. " He that 
saveth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my 
sake shall find it." Such are the precepts of Jesus. 

But, as I have said, our Father in heaven imposes upon us no 
precept, obedience to which he has not himself first exempli- 
fied. In condescension such as finite mind can never com- 
prehend, he loves us with the affection which he requires 



IMITATORS OF GOD. £13 

us to cherish towards him. He commands us to love him 
with our whole heart ; and " God so loved the world that he 
gave his only hegotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." He forbids us to 
make any reserve, or to withhold from him the dearest ob- 
jects of our affection. But he has done this for us all. 
When he gave up his well-beloved Son, he gave him up 
wholly, and shrunk back from nothing that was needful for 
our redemption. He yielded up the Son of his love to hunger 
and thirst, to cold and nakedness, to persecution, shame, and 
reproach, to the temptations of Satan such as no created 
being had ever undergone, nay, to the hiding of his face in 
the hour of his deepest agony, that such sinners as we are 
might be brought back to the family of the holy. Well might 
there be silence in heaven when this purpose of mercy was 
first revealed to the angelic hosts. They had for ages con- 
templated the unspeakable love of God ; but when it was an- 
nounced that he would make such a sacrifice for such a race, 
they were struck dumb in holy amazement. A new and 
transporting view of the condescension and love of God burst 
upon the sight of the seraphim. No finite mind could fathom 
its depth or explore its immensity. It was love to a race of 
rebels, guilty, odious, and despicable, who had trampled on his 
laws, and did not even like to retain him in their knowledge. 
And remember, redeemed sinner, this love reached even 
unto thee. God so loved thee that he gave his well-beloved 
Son ; and if he so loved us, surely we ought to love one 
another. I put it to your own hearts, beloved — ought we not 
to be followers of God ? 

But there is another aspect of this subject, slightly differing 
from that which we have taken. We hear much in the New 
Testament about giving up our whole selves to the Savior, of 
being constrained by the love of Christ, and doing, not our 
own will, but the will of him that loved us. He requires us 
to give up ourselves, our affections, a living sacrifice to him 
for time and eternity. But remember he first set us the 



214 IMITATORS OF GOD. 

example by giving up himself wholly for us. And what a sac- 
rifice was this ! Here was self-sacrificing benevolence that 
must stand forever without a parallel in the history of the 
universe. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. 
By him were all things created, visible or invisible, whether 
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, 
all things were created by him and for him. Yet, when the 
fulness of time was come, he emptied himself of his glory, and 
took upon him the form of a servant. When he had put his 
hand to the work of our redemption, there was no sacrifice 
which he did not make, there was no humiliation which he did 
not undergo, in order to accomplish it. He, whose arm up- 
held the universe, subjected himself to the law of humanity. 
The high possessor of heaven and earth had not where to 
lay his head. He, before whom the mightiest created intel- 
ligences bowed down in lowly adoration, condescended to be 
railed at as a madman. The Holy One of Israel was accused 
of collusion with the chief of the devils. His life was worn 
out in labors, and watchings, and fastings, while he was ever 
putting forth miraculous power to relieve the woes of others, 
though never to relieve his own. Follow him to the last 
supper, and see him, like the humblest menial, washing the 
begrimed feet of fishermen and publicans. Go with him to 
the garden of Gethsemane ; remark the bloody sweat, the ago- 
ny of that thrice-repeated prayer, " Father, if it be possible, let 
this cup pass from me ; " observe the arrest by the mob, the 
flight of the disciples, the blows and mockery of the soldiery; 
hearken to the preference for Barabbas, while the air is rent 
with the cries, " Crucify him, crucify him ; " see the crown of 
thorns, the nails driven home through those hands and feet 
that sin had never polluted ; and listen to his cry, "My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " Think of this, ye 
who have washed your robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb, and if the Holy Spirit condescend to help 
you, you shall know something of the love of Christ which 
passeth knowledge. He withheld nothing from you, and 



IMITATORS OF GOD. £15 

can you withhold any thing from him ? Does not your heart 
melt within you as you think of his love ? and does not every 
power of your soul cry out and shout, " I will be an imitator 
of Jesus." " We love him because he first loved us." 

And when you are thinking of all this, do not lose your- 
selves in vague generalities, but take each element of this 
transaction, and meditate upon it singly. Jesus Christ was no 
imaginary character, but, in his human nature, a man like 
any one of us, exposed to all the pains, and moved by all 
the impulses, of humanity, yet without sin. Endowed with 
an intellect of incomparable power, and capable of teaching 
the sages of this world as if they were children, he spent his 
life in imparting instruction to a few illiterate peasants. His 
taste was surpassingly exquisite, yet he so spoke that the 
common people heard him gladly. With eloquence such as 
to prompt the exclamation, " Never man spake like this man," 
his common audiences were rustic Galileans. His social sym- 
pathies were refined and delicate ; yet his chosen companions 
were not the highly bred and illustrious, but those of every 
rank, who did the will of his Father in heaven. Borne 
down under the weight of his mighty undertaking, like any 
other man, he yearned for companionship ; but there was not 
a being on earth who could comprehend his character, or 
understand his mission, or to whom he could unbosom his 
cares. He trod the wine press alone, and of the people, 
there was none with him. When, indeed, was there a single 
precept for the cultivation of Christian character which he did 
not exemplify in his own life ? O, what shame does the life of 
Christ cast upon the pride, and vanity, and self-indulgence of 
multitudes of us who claim to be his disciples ! 

And here, my brethren, you observe the appropriateness 
of the exhortation, " Run with patience the race set before 
you, looking unto Jesus.'''' Look to him as the interpreter of 
his own precepts. He has told us how to live, and he has 
exemplified every precept in his own life. You are fre- 
quently in doubt as to your duty. You may, perhaps, with- 



216 IMITATORS OF GOD. 

out difficulty, discover the precept, but you doubt as to the 
mode of its application. There is a worldly and a spiritual 
mode of understanding it, and you hesitate between them. 
In every such case look unto Jesus. See how he understood 
it, and how he put it in practice, and all your doubts will 
readily be dissipated. And even when you do not readily 
discover the rule of conduct, you never need be long in 
uncertainty. Look unto Jesus. Ask yourself in simplicity 
of heart, " What will best please my Savior?" and you will 
find small room for hesitation. The love of Christ furnishes 
the surest and simplest rule of duty. Giving our affection 
to him, we shall always do the things that are pleasing in his 
sight. 

Let us look to Jesus for moral impulse. The path of 
duty, though a safe, is a rough one. Think of it as we may, 
when we come to the actual trial, to bear reproach, to be 
sneered at and neglected, to have men separate us from their 
company, in a word, to lose caste with our fellows, is by no 
means pleasant to flesh and blood. Specially is this the 
case in youth, when the social impulses are the strongest, 
and the power of resistance to public opinion the weakest. 
When, under the pressure of all these influences, the faith 
of the believer begins to falter, then is the time to look unto 
Jesus. Consider the example which he has set before us, and 
let us plant our feet in his footprints. Think how he tri- 
umphed over the world by scorning its delights, and meekly 
bearing all that it could inflict. Did the Son of God set thee 
such an example, and hast thou neither the courage nor love 
to follow it ? Did he do all this for thee, and dost thou refuse 
to bear so light a cross for him ? Keep thine eye fixed on 
Christ, and as thou gazest upon him thou shalt be strengthened 
by might, through his spirit, in thy inner man. As thou fillest 
thy soul with devout conceptions of the example of Jesus, the 
world will dwindle into insignificance, and, emancipated from 
its thraldom, thou shalt walk abroad in the noble liberty of the 
sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. 



IMITATORS OF GOD. 217 

And, my brethren, let us look to Jesus if we would estimate 
the reward of those that follow his example. As Messiah, 
the Mediator between God and man, the incomparable glory- 
to which he is exalted is ever spoken of as the reward of his 
sufferings and humiliation. It was because he thus humbled 
himself that he was raised to the right hand of the Father. 
And the rule is the same for him and for all who imitate 
him. Every reproach endured for him, every self-denial 
suffered rather than grieve him, every labor distasteful to 
flesh and blood performed simply to please him, will render 
that crown the brighter which the Lord will give to them 
that love his appearing. When fainting under trial, and 
harassed by temptation, look unto Jesus, the author and fin- 
isher of your faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down 
at the right hand of the throne of God. Let this mind, my 
brethren, be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, 
being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal 
with God ; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon 
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
man, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled him- 
self and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given 
him a name that is above every name, that at the name 
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and 
things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every 
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory 
of God the Father. Wherefore, beloved, comfort one an- 
other with these words. 
19 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT 



" He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you." 

John xvi. 15. 

The Being referred to in these words is the Comforter, 
which is the Holy Ghost. The work which he accomplishes 
is also defined. All things, saith the Savior, that the Father 
hath are mine, therefore he shall take of mine, and shall show 
it unto you. That is to say, the Son possesses all the knowledge 
of the Father. As the Father knoweth me, so I know the 
Father. The Holy Spirit also possesses all the knowledge 
of the Godhead, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the 
deep things of God. This knowledge in such measure as he 
pleases he reveals unto us. He communicates with the spirit 
of man, and teaches us truth which we could not otherwise 
know ; and enables us to comprehend, and receive, and apply 
to ourselves truth which, without his aid, would be sterile and 
unproductive. The power of truth over the mind of sinful 
man is thus ascribed to the agency of the blessed Comforter. 

It is manifest that a fact of this nature must be a matter of 
revelation. Reason could never discover it. Natural re- 
ligion could never discover it. Our senses could never per- 
ceive it. As it acts, except in the case of miraculous in- 
spiration, in perfect harmony with all the faculties of the 
mind, our consciousness could not recognize it. All the 
knowledge we possess concerning it must come directly 
from God himself. We must therefore go to the Scriptures 
exclusively, if we would learn all that can be known on 
this subject. In such a case, to affirm what can be, and 

(218) 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 219 

what cannot be, must evidently be to darken counsel by- 
words without knowledge. 

In considering at this time some of the aspects in which 
the work of the Spirit is made known to us, it is my intention 
to confine myself entirely to the teachings of the word of 
God. It is not my purpose to treat of the work of the 
Spirit in general, but only of that part of it which has re- 
spect specially to the soul of man in regeneration. If such 
an agency is exerted, and if it be the source of all spiritual 
illumination, it is important that every man should under- 
stand it, who is seriously asking the momentous question, 
What must I do to be saved ? 

I shall therefore take it for granted, that there is a divine 
Being, termed in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit, whose special 
office it is to reveal to the mind of man that truth which 
relates to our spiritual nature and eternal destiny. It was 
this Spirit which inspired the prophets of old. It was by 
the illumination of the same Spirit that the apostles and 
evangelists made known to us the will of God in the New 
Testament. Nay, the Messiah, on earth, spake not by him- 
self; the Spirit was poured out upon him without measure, 
and thus he revealed to us truth pure and transparent, as 
it flowed through his lips from the bosom of the ever-b!essed 
God. Nor is the influence of the Spirit confined to prophets, 
apostles, and holy men of old. The Scriptures represent 
the Comforter as dwelling in the hearts of all the children 
of God. We are told that the submission of our wills to 
the monitions of the Spirit is the evidence of our adoption 
into the family of the redeemed, for as many as are led 
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Ye are 
not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit 
of God dwell in you. If any man have not the Spirit of 
Christ, he is none of his. 

Nor is the influence of the Spirit upon the soul of man con- 
fined exclusively to the children of God. The Scriptures 
represent bad men as resisting the Spirit, grieving the Spirit, 



220 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

and turning a deaf ear to all his monitions. Such was the 
case under the old dispensation. This truth is, however, made 
known to us more emphatically in the New Testament. Men 
are there addressed directly, and told that they are at this 
moment resisting the Holy Ghost. The sin against the Holy 
Ghost is also singled out, as the sin for which there is no 
forgiveness. A man may speak against the Son of man and 
be forgiven ; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, 
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the 
world to come. It would seem, then, that the influences of 
the Holy Spirit are very generally bestowed upon man. Both 
good and bad men are, in some sense, taught by him. The 
one obey and the other disobey his instructions. 

While, however, I thus speak of the universality of the 
Spirit's agency, I would remark that, under the old dispensa- 
tion, this blessing seems to have been bestowed almost exclu- 
sively upon the Hebrews. It was given only in rare and ex- 
ceptional cases to the Gentiles. With the Christian dispensa- 
tion a new era commenced. The Gospel was to be preached 
to all nations ; the promise was given that the Holy Ghost should 
attend upon the faithful preaching of the news of salvation. 
We are all living in the full enjoyment of this promised bless- 
ing. Christ is preached to us every Sabbath day, and every 
one of us has beheld the power, if he has not felt, in his own 
soul, the strivings of the Holy Spirit. 

It is of importance here to remark that this gift is always 
spoken of, in the New Testament, as the crowning proof of 
the love of God to man, and his last effort to redeem us from 
the curse of sin. If this fail, the case of the sinner is hope- 
less. If the Spirit is grieved and withdraw from the soul, the 
man is lost beyond the possibility of redemption. 

Nor is this without reason. We were justly condemned 
for our sins. Had God made no provision for our pardon, 
but left us to the consequences of our transgressions, his 
throne would have still shone spotless in holiness. The fallen 
angels were left, for their transgression, in chains under dark- 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 221 

ness, to the judgment of the great day. But for man God 
provided a way of escape, at the cost of an infinite sacrifice. 
He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life. The atonement made for our sins was as 
extensive as the ruin by the fall. A pardon, free, full, and 
universal, was offered to all who would penitently and in faith 
come and accept of it. Jesus Christ came to seek and to 
save that which was lost ; if any man, therefore, be lost, he 
may be assured that Christ came to seek and to save him. 
A pardon is provided for him, if he will, in a right temper 
of heart, come and ask for- it. The door of heaven is 
thus thrown wide open, and whosoever will may come and 
take the water of life freely. 

But men, with one consent, begin to make excuse. They 
prefer sin to holiness. They do not choose to have God to 
reign over them. The eyes of their understanding are 
blinded, so that they have no suitable appreciation of spiritual 
things. The coming, the invisible, the eternal is shut out 
from their thoughts by the present, the visible, the temporal. 
In this our hopeless exigency, our Father in heaven makes one 
more effort to save us. He sends the Holy Spirit to arouse 
us from our moral lethargy, and direct our attention to our 
relations to him, and the fearful danger of our present po- 
sition. More than this, he has promised that this Spirit shall 
abide ever with those who sincerely desire it, to guide them 
into all truth, confirm them in all goodness, and lead them in 
safety to his kingdom in heaven. If we reject this last proof 
of the love of God, what can remain for us but to be left to 
the result of our own choices, and thus perish without remedy ? 

It is in view of this heavenly influence upon the minds of 
both saints and sinners, that our Lord declares, " It is expedi- 
ent for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Com- 
forter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send 
him unto you." In these words our Lord teaches us, not 
only the infinite importance of the presence of the Com- 
19* 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

forter, but intimates that this blessing is one of the results of 
his atoning sacrifice, and his ascension to the right hand of 
the Father. 

We may thus learn something of the solemn responsibility 
which rests upon us who live under the new dispensation, and 
are partakers in this last and most astonishing proof of our 
heavenly Father's love. He has provided for us a way of 
salvation ; he has freely offered to us eternal life ; he has 
sent his Holy Spirit to persuade us to accept of the blessings 
purchased by the death of his Son. If, under such circum- 
stances, we perish, who can tell the inexcusableness of our 
guilt ? who can measure the solemnity of our doom ? 

But it may be important to inquire, What is the object of 
the agency of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of men ? 

1 would answer, in the first place, the Holy Spirit is not 
given in order to furnish us with any new revelation. " Holy 
men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 
Under both dispensations they were inspired to reveal to us 
the will of God, and the authenticity of their message was 
attested by miraculous gifts. All that we receive as a rev- 
elation is the result of such inspiration. But with the 
teachings of those who were personally commissioned by 
Christ, we believe that the communications of God to us, con- 
cerning our salvation, have forever ceased. To the Scriptures 
which he has given to us no man may add, and from them 
no man may take away. God has here revealed to us all 
that he desires us to know of his dealings with man, and 
then closed the book forever. The Spirit of God speaks no 
more to us by way of inspiration. It is to the Bible alone 
that we must go, if we would learn his will concerning us. 
The voice of the Spirit is not heard in the floating, contradic- 
tory, and baseless fables of tradition. He speaks not to us 
in bulls of popes, the decrees of councils, or synods, or con- 
vocations, in the resolutions of conventions, or in the words of 
any man, or any association of men, claiming power over 
the conscience. To the law and the testimony : if they speak 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 223 

not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 
If we yield up the direction of our consciences to such guides, 
we do it at our peril, and it may be to our eternal undoing. 
What the Spirit has taught is to be found in the Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testaments ; all else is the teaching of 
men. No man can claim for his utterances authority over 
the conscience, unless he authenticates his message by the 
manifestation of miraculous power. 

Secondly. The Holy Spirit is not bestowed upon men in 
order to place them under any new obligation to love and 
obey God, and repent and believe the Gospel. These duties 
are forever binding upon us from the fact that Jehovah is our 
God, and such a God, and that we are his intelligent and ac- 
countable creatures. " He hath showed it [his eternal power 
and Godhead] unto them," saith the apostle Paul ; " therefore 
they are without excuse." Every moral intelligence is bound 
by the strongest obligations to love God with the whole heart, 
and serve him with filial obedience. Every such intelligence 
who has sinned, is, in the same manner, bound to repent and 
humble himself before God. These obligations are fixed and 
unalterable as the throne of Jehovah. And this duty is not a 
thing of time or place — it presses upon us under all circum- 
stances, and at every instant. There can be no moment in the 
existence of an intelligent creature, in which it can cease from 
loving God without being guilty of atrocious wickedness. 
There cannot be a moment in the existence of a sinner in 
which it is not his duty immediately to repent. God and him- 
self are the only beings concerned in this controversy, and 
it is the first duty of his existence to draw near in humble 
acknowledgment, and ask for forgiveness of Him against 
whom he has sinned. Hence we see how greatly men err 
who suppose that they are under no obligation to repent, be- 
cause they have never been visited by the influences of the 
Holy Spirit. Let them remember that if it was not their 
duty to repent until the Holy Spirit were sent to awaken 
them, it would *never be their duty at all ; for the Spirit of 



224 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

God creates no new obligation. Let such a man, then, know 
that by this subterfuge he is deceiving his own soul ; he is 
hardening his heart, and rendering his condition daily more 
hopeless. Instead of slumbering in this false security let 
him arise and call mightily upon God, lest, peradventure, he 
perish not. The Holy Spirit bestows no new faculties — 
it creates no new obligations. We must come to God just 
such sinners as we are, with just the powers we possess, or 
we can never come at all. Any reasoning, which teaches us 
that we may safely continue for a moment impenitent, and 
enemies to God, is from the father of lies, and if we believe 
it, we do it at the peril of our souls. 

But you will ask, If such be the case, what is the need 
of any agency of the Spirit in our conversion and sanctifica- 
tion ? I reply, There is no reason whatever for such an 
agency that is not found in our own hardness of heart, and 
our deep and sinful insensibility to spiritual truth. The facts 
which concern our relations to God do not affect us like any 
other well-known truth. Every act of sin, by a natural ten- 
dency, stupefies the conscience, and renders the soul less sus- 
ceptible to spiritual impressions. We have been sinners from 
the beginning, and thus this insensibiliiy has become fixed and 
immovable ; and it furnishes one of the most significant evi- 
dences of our incorrigible depravity. 

Let me illustrate my meaning by a few plain examples. 
You are humbled and ashamed if ever you have been guilty of 
ingratitude to man ; but your unceasing ingratitude to God 
never has awakened in your bosom a single emotion of pen- 
itential sorrow. We fear for the result when we have justly 
deserved punishment at the hands of man ; we know that 
we are exposed to the righteous judgment of God, and re- 
main utterly unmoved. To escape the most trifling inconven- 
ience, or secure the most momentary gratification, we delib- 
erately defy our Maker, and knowingly incur his extreme 
displeasure. Self-sacrificing benevolence naturally fills us 
with admiration ; but we can contemplate the sacrifice of 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 225 

Christ, who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, 
without a single throb of grateful affection. In other cases, 
when we know that danger is impending, we leave no means 
unattempted by which we may avert it. Your dwellings and 
warehouses are liable to be consumed by fire, and your ships to 
founder at sea, and you take every precaution to have them 
fully insured. You know that your souls are exposed to ever- 
lasting woe, and that the irrevocable sentence may go forth 
against you at any moment, and you have never yet put forth 
one honest effort to escape the wrath to come. When an 
opportunity occurs of making an unusually favorable invest- 
ment, we mortgage our property, we strain our credit to the 
utmost, that we may secure as large a share as possible of 
the benefit, and men praise our boldness and forethought. 
But when mansions in heaven, when seats at the right hand 
of Christ, when glory such as eye hath not seen nor the 
heart of man conceived, are offered to us as a free gift, we 
will not abandon a single lust, we will not endure a single 
self-denial, nay, we will not make a single effort, in order to 
appropriate these blessings to ourselves. 

All this, beloved, you know to be the truth. In what we 
have thus said, we bring not against you any strange accusa- 
tion. We only repeat what many of you have deliberately 
told us. When I have urged you to seek first of all the 
salvation of your souls, you reply, that the truths of religion, 
for some cause or other, do not affect you like other truth, and 
that, in this respect, you only resemble all other men. It must 
surely be very wicked for you to live thus, and to have hard- 
ened your conscience against the solemn reproofs and the mer- 
ciful invitations of your Maker and Redeemer. But the infinite 
goodness of God has not been exhausted by your long-contin- 
ued contumacy. It is because he cannot bear to see you per- 
ish, although you are just so unreasonable, obdurate, and un- 
grateful, that he has sent his Spirit to arouse you from the 
slumber of sin, and persuade you to lay hold on everlasting 
life. Our Father in heaven knows how the habit of doing 



226 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

wrong has stupefied our consciences, and enslaved us under 
the dominion of the senses, and therefore he has sent his 
Holy Spirit to convince us of sin, and of righteousness, and of 
the judgment to come. If we persist in our rejection of all 
these offers of mercy, what can save us* from destruction ? 
God does not interfere with the freedom of will with which at 
our creation he has endowed us. If, in spite of all that he 
has done to save us, we still choose to disobey him, we must 
be lost, and our ruin must rest upon our own heads. 

But you will very naturally ask, What is the nature of 
that influence which the Holy Spirit exerts upon a human 
soul. With the metaphysical topics involved in this question, 
I have nothing to do. I confine myself to the facts concern- 
ing it which have been revealed in the Scriptures. These 
alone concern our moral nature, and these alone can affect our 
eternal destiny. 

Our Lord, when speaking on this subject, gives us, I think, 
all the knowledge which we can ever obtain concerning it. 
" When the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, is come, he 
shall take of mine, and show it unto you. 1 ' By mine, he 
means the truth common to him and the Father. The office 
of the Holy Ghost is, then, in some manner peculiar to him- 
self, to set before us the truth. He withdraws the veil 
which our sinful habits have spread over spiritual facts, and 
we see them in their naked reality. I have said that whilst 
the truth which respects only the present world produces upon 
us its legitimate effect, the truths of the world to come lie in 
our minds powerless as though we knew them to be fables. 
Now, the Holy Spirit is given for the purpose of restoring to 
spiritual truth its natural and reasonable efficiency. It is as 
though we had our eyes fixed on a book in the deep gloom of 
twilight. We believe that the page reveals truth, we know 
the language in which it is written ; but the light is so imper- 
fect, that, though here and there we can distinguish a capital 
letter and now and then decipher a word, yet we are unable 
to make out distinctly a single sentence. But let light now 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. ££7 

fall upon the page, and every word and every letter is instant- 
ly revealed, the thought of the writer beams upon our under- 
standing, and the channel of communication between his mind 
and ours is, for the time, fully established. Very similar to this 
is the case before us. We read and we hear about God, the 
Judge of all, and Christ, the Redeemer of men, about sin and 
repentance, heaven and hell, the wages of guilt and the re- 
ward of holiness, and we care so little about them that the 
words hardly awaken a thought, or leave a trace upon our 
recollection. But let now the Holy Spirit show these things 
of Christ unto us, and they are at once invested with the ter- 
rors or the joys of a most solemn reality. God, who, a little 
while since, seemed a mere powerless abstraction, now appears 
to us the living God, spotless in holiness, immutable in justice, 
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, before 
whom all things are naked and open. The sinner's life, 
which seemed to be sullied only here and there by a few 
venial transgressions, now appears nothing but one long act 
of unpardonable guilt, for which he can make no reparation. 
Eternity, which before was only a wonderful metaphysical 
conception, now spreads out before him as an overwhelming 
verity, which he cannot think of without a shudder ; for it is 
not simply eternity, but an eternity of woe, that now appears 
before him in all its dread solemnity. The Holy Spirit thus sets 
the things of Christ, the truths of revelation, distinctly before 
the mind of the sinner, and, so long as this influence is 
exerted, he feels, intensely, the powers of the world to come. 
On this subject I need make no reference to the experience 
of the disciples of Christ. They know full well, that for all their 
true knowledge of God, for all their convictions of sin, for 
every emotion of penitential sorrow, for every act of faith, for 
every glimpse of the glory that is to be revealed, they are in- 
debted to the influence of the Holy Spirit. They have abundant 
occasion to know that the reading, or the hearing, of the word 
of life, is utterly powerless without the illumination of the 
Spirit of God. Hence the reason of their incessant prayer, 



228 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things 
out of thy law. Hence their supplication for that heaven- 
ly teaching, which alone can make them wise unto salva- 
tion. Hence their frequently bitter cry, Cast me not away 
from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. 
Hence the earnestness with which they plead for an outpour- 
ing of the Spirit upon themselves, their children, their con- 
gregation, the whole Israel of God, and a world perishing in 
sin. Hence, also, the reason why our Lord so often incul- 
cates upon us this duty, and teaches us that God is more 
willing to bestow upon us this last, best gift than any other. 
" If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give 
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ! " 

It is not, however, of Christ's people that I here desire to 
speak. I wish to address particularly those persons who 
have, for many years, listened to the preaching of the gos- 
pel ; who, perhaps, habitually read the Scriptures ; who, in 
the Sabbath school and the Bible class, have studied the mean- 
ing of the oracles of God. There are many who, while they 
are doing all this, remain unchanged in their love of the 
world, and have never yet taken the first step in the path of 
preparation for heaven. Some of you who now hear me, know 
this to be your own case, and may possibly be congratulating 
yourselves that you have none of this sin to answer for — 
that the Holy Spirit has never been sent to arouse your con- 
science or call you to repentance. You may possibly derive 
some satisfaction from the belief that though you have not yet 
obeyed the gospel, you have not incurred the still greater 
guilt of grieving the Holy Spirit. 

Should it be as you say, thoughtless fellow-sinner, you 
have small cause for self-gratulation. I should be most un- 
willing to believe that it is as you suppose. Can it be that 
there is here a single soul that has been from the beginning 
forsaken of God, on whose moral darkness the Holy Spirit 
has never poured a single ray of light ? Is there here a con- 
science so obdurate that no warning of the Spirit has ever 



GEIEVING THE SPIEIT. 229 

awakened in it a single religious emotion ? How sad beyond 
expression must be the condition of such a soul ! What hope 
can remain of its salvation ? Like a tree twice dead, plucked 
up by the roots, the sun may shine upon it with meridian 
warmth, the rain may descend with refreshing moisture, but 
they tend only to hasten its decay. Its vitality is extinguished ; 
it is good for nothing but the burning. 

But I will not, I do not, believe this of any one of you. I 
believe that the Holy Spirit is even now striving with you. 
Look back with me over some of the events of your past 
history, and determine for yourselves, whether you have not 
frequently been visited by the Holy Spirit, and whether you 
have not as often grieved him by your neglect. 

I would have you remember that you have, from child- 
hood known the Holy Scriptures, and have long been familiar 
with the conditions of the plan of salvation. For the most 
part, you think of these solemn truths without any emotion 
whatever. The favor of men moves you to action, rather 
than the fear of God ; the present, the visible and tangible, 
seem to you the real, while the spiritual and the eternal are 
to you the shadowy, the uncertain, the valueless. This I 
think you will admit to be the common and ordinary condition 
of your soul. 

But, if I do not greatly mistake, there have been occasions, 
brief parentheses, as it were, in your existence, when it has 
been otherwise. You can recall the time and the place when 
the truths which were as familiar to you as household words 
were clothed with a power before which 3^ou trembled in 
moral agony. It may have been while hearing the oft-repeat- 
ed message of salvation, or when "some friend has told you of 
a Savior's love, or in the solitude of your own thoughts, or 
even while the shout of boisterous hilarity was dying away 
upon your ear, that eternity, with all its realities, burst sud- 
denly on your affrighted vision. The bottomless pit seemed 
to yawn before you, and the next step might plunge you into 
the abyss. Imagination placed you already in the presence 
20 



230 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

of your Judge, and you heard beforehand the awful sentence, 
Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
devil and his angels. While you acknowledged the sentence 
to be just, you shrank back from your doom, shrieking in 
agony, How can I dwell with devouring fire ? how can I lie 
down in everlasting burnings ? The world, with its pleas- 
ures and cares, its hopes and its fears, seemed to you less 
than nothing and vanity, and an interest in Christ the only 
thing needful in all the wide universe. 

What produced this transient difference in your moral sen- 
sibilities ? The truths which at such a time so deeply affected 
you, were the same that you had known from childhood. 
You have listened to them Sabbath after Sabbath, until you 
have grown weary of hearing them. You have a hun- 
dred times been placed in precisely the same external cir- 
cumstances, and no emotion has been awakened within 
you. Nay, you have frequently, since then, remembered 
these very moral feelings with a heart as hard as ada- 
mant. What was it that then clothed well-known truth with 
so overwhelming a power ? Think, and judge for yourself. 
It was surely none of your own doing. You could not recall 
these feelings at will. The surrounding circumstances did 
not thus awaken you, for in them there was nothing peculiar. 
It was the Holy Spirit, taking the things of Christ and show- 
ing them to you. God, who caused the light to shine out of 
darkness, by his Spirit shone into your heart, and made know.n 
the gulf that was lying directly across your path. The view 
was too appalling. You closed your eyes upon it. When 
you opened them again, the light was withdrawn, and you 
were again groping in your former darkness. 

Sometimes, however, the Holy Spirit awakens our atten- 
tion with scarcely any appeal to our emotional nature. He 
makes use of our understanding to teach us our danger and 
our duty. The truths which we have ever acknowledged 
assume to us an unwonted practical character. The man, 
without any particular excitement, calmly compares time with 
eternity, and he at once perceives the littleness of the one and 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 231 

the vastness of the other. He looks upon all that he is now 
pursuing, and confesses to himself that, were it all attained, it 
would be but a miserable portion for an immortal spirit ; nay, 
he not only confesses it, but he feels that it is true. To 
secure the salvation of the soul appears to him the most 
reasonable thing of which he can conceive, and he wonders 
that it should ever have seemed otherwise. At the same 
time, the world and the things of the world have lost their 
attraction, and the chains that bound him to the earth are 
relaxed, if they be not severed. There is not, and he sees 
that there is not any reason worthy of a moment's consid- 
eration, why he should not seek first of all the kingdom of 
heaven. It is as clear to him as a mathematical demonstra- 
tion. It was not always so. This peculiar conviction, how- 
ever, passed away, and it is not so now. What was it that, 
at that time, so strangely affected him ? It was the Spirit 
taking the things of Christ and showing them unto him. 

Such visits of the Spirit may recur several times and the 
man remain unchanged in moral condition. As a general rule, 
they become less frequent and less impressive, until at last 
they cease altogther. Sometimes, however, they assume a 
more definite character. The realities of eternity and the 
frivolities of time, the claims of God and the allurements of the 
senses, are placed before the soul in deliberate contrast, and the 
man feels that he must determine which he shall choose, and 
that he must do it now. The strait gate and the broad way 
stand visibly open before him, and he must enter either the 
one or the other, and the choice is for eternity. At such a 
time as this, there is no opportunity for procrastination. The 
Holy Ghost saith, to-day the decision must be formed. The 
man must now choose, and, in such a case, I believe he actu- 
ally does choose. Most frequently he cannot resist the plead- 
ings of the Spirit ; he surrenders himself to God, and lays hold 
on the nope set before him. But it is not always so. Some- 
times, under all this moral pressure, the love of sin gains 
the victory ; the man succumbs to the power of his lusts, 
chooses the way of death, and deliberately bids the Spirit 



232 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

depart from him. He is taken at his word ; the Spirit retires, 
and, alas ! too often retires forever. 

You see, then, beloved, the nature of the operation of the 
Spirit of God upon a human soul. It consists in showing 
to us, with distinctness, the things of Christ. It enables us 
to appreciate the truths of religion, just as we appreciate 
every other truth. Its visits are brief, and are easily interrupt- 
ed. We may heed its monitions or reject them, as we choose. 
It reveals to us our danger, and suggests to us a way of 
escape. It is with us, free and independent creatures of 
God, to choose for ourselves eternal life or eternal death. 

Have I, in these remarks, brought to recollection any facts 
in the history of any of you who now hear me ? Has not the 
Spirit taken of the things of Christ and showed them to many 
of you here ? You have, then, shared in these blessed influ- 
ences the last gift of your Father in heaven. What has 
been the result? Have you yielded yourselves to the influ- 
ences of his persuasive love ? Have you turned your eyes 
to the light, or have you turned them away towards the dark- 
ness ? For all this you must give an account. It is a solemn 
thing to turn away from the manifestation of a Savior's love, 
but it is still more solemn, besides all this, to grieve the Spirit 
of the living God. 

Need I add that the soul which has thus far grieved the Spirit 
of God is at this moment in imminent peril ? God hath said, 
" My Spirit shall not always strive with man." If you, by your 
neglect, or procrastination, or love of sin, grieve the Holy 
Comforter, he will leave you to the darkness which you have 
chosen. The decree will go forth, " Ephraim is joined to his 
idols ; let him alone. 1 " Your doom will then be irrevocably 
sealed. No tear of penitence will ever moisten your eye. No 
emotion of godly sorrow will ever agitate your bosom. No view 
of a Savior's love will ever kindle in your soul the flame of 
adoring gratitude. Nay, the soul thus deserted of God can 
look even upon the reality of a lost eternity with stolid in- 
difference. Henceforward there is no hope. " Hadst thou 
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 233 

belong to thy peace — but now they are hid from thine 
eyes." 

In view of all this, may I not hope that some of you are 
already inquiring, How shall I escape this impending doom ? 
To such an inquiry I would answer, briefly, as follows : — 

First. It is against God that you have sinned, and it is to him 
that you must seek for reconciliation. You have broken his 
law, you have rejected his mercy, you have grieved his Spirit. 
No other being can pardon you, no other being can save you. 
You must settle this controversy with him, for you and he alone 
are the parties concerned in it. Retire to your solitary cham- 
ber, banish every distracting thought, and concentrate every 
power within you upon the concern of your soul's salvation. 
Fall prostrate before your Father in heaven, confess to him all 
your guilt, and beseech him once more to bestow upon you 
the gift of his oft-rejected Spirit. Beseech him to reveal to 
you your sins, and by his divine energy to quicken your tor- 
pid conscience. Ask him for strength to look up to that Re- 
deemer who is exalted a Prince and a Savior, to grant repent- 
ance unto Israel and remission of sins. Look up to him in 
humble trust, and repent of your whole life of guilty disobedi- 
ence and ingratitude. You are utterly lost unless he appear 
for your salvation. He would be just though he never should 
hear your prayer ; acknowledge that it is so, but still, in 
trembling hope, plead his promise, " Him that cometh unto 
me I will in no wise cast out." 

Secondly. You must obey the very first teachings of the 
Spirit, if you desire him to lead you to life everlasting. What- 
ever he makes known to you, do it, and do it immediately, and 
do it at any sacrifice. His command is, " Seek ye first the king- 
dom of God ; " and do it now. Obey him implicitly. Give 
your undivided attention to the securing of your soul's salva- 
tion. Withdraw from all company, deny yourself every amuse- 
ment, put aside every business that would interfere with this, 
the most important concern of your existence. Be not afraid of 
the sneer of your companions. You have not been ashamed 
20* 



GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 

for so many years to offend your Father in heaven and grieve 
his Holy Spirit; why should you be ashamed to acknowl- 
edge that you are seeking to be reconciled to him ? And 
resolve in your inmost soul, that, God helping you, you will 
seek until you find, you will knock until it be opened unto 
you. Be thoroughly in earnest on this subject. Give up 
yourself wholly to it. Begin to obey the first intimations of 
the Spirit, and though the light that shines upon you be fee- 
ble, he will increase it ; continue to do his will, and it will 
shine more and more unto the peifect day. 

And, thirdly, do not waste your time and peril your soul 
in any attempt to make yourself better. Come to him ac- 
knowledging your guilt and ill-desert, and rely for pardon 
and eternal life solely on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. 
You can never make any compromises with the Most High. 
You can never, by any thing that you may do, bring him 
under any obligation to pardon you. You are a sinner justly 
under condemnation, and the fact cannot be denied. As a 
sinner helplessly guilty, trusting in the sacrifice of Christ, 
with the returning prodigal say, I will arise and go to my 
Father. Do more than resolve, and as he did, arise and go 
to your Father. Even when you are a great way off, your 
Father will see you, and have compassion, bestow upon you 
a free and full pardon, receive you into his redeemed 
family, and clothe you in a Savior's righteousness. 

All this is freely offered to every one of you. What will 
you do ? The Holy Ghost saith, " To-day, if you will hear 
his voice, harden not your heart." If you do not hear it, 
your guilt will be rendered more inexcusable by this ad- 
ditional act of disobedience. There is no reason why you 
should not now, this very day, return to your Father in 
heaven, and be accepted of him. On your own souls does 
the responsibility of this decision rest. The gate of heaven 
is thrown wide open. The Spirit and the bride say, Come, 
and whosoever will, let him come, and take of the waters 
of life freely. 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF 
NAZARETH. 



" And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all 
that they had done," etc. 

Luke ix. 10-17. 

It was the sagacious, opinion of, I think, the late Professor 
Porson, that he would rather see a single copy of a daily 
newspaper of ancient Athens, than read all the commentaries 
upon the Grecian tragedies that have ever been written. The 
reason for this preference is obvious. A single sheet, similar 
to our daily newspapers, published in the time of Pericles, 
would admit us at once to a knowledge of the habits, man- 
ners, modes of opinion, political relations, social condition, 
and moral attainments of the people, such as we never could 
gain from the study of all the writers that have ever attempted 
to illustrate the nature of Grecian civilization. 

The same remark is true in respect to our knowledge of 
the character of individuals who have lived in a former age. 
What would we not, at the present day, give for a few pages 
of the private diary of Julius Caesar, or Cicero, or Brutus, or 
Augustus ; or for the minute reminiscences of any one who 
had spent a few days in the company of either of these dis- 
tinguished men ? What a flood of light would the discovery 
of such a manuscript throw upon Roman life, but especially 
upon the private opinions, the motives, the aspirations, the 
moral estimates, of the men whose names have become 
household words throughout the world ! A few such pages 
might, perchance, dissipate the authority of many a bulky 



236 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



folio on which we now rely with implicit confidence. Not 
only would the characters of these heroes of antiquity stand 
out in bolder relief than they have ever done before, but the 
individuals themselves would be brought within the range of 
our personal sympathy ; and we should seem to commune 
with them as we do with an intimate acquaintance. 

It is worthy of remark, that we are favored with a larger 
portion of this kind of information, respecting Jesus of Naz- 
areth, than almost any other distinguished person that has 
ever lived. He left no writings himself; hence all that we 
know of him has been written by others. The narrators, 
however, were the personal attendants, and not the mere 
auditors or pupils of their Master. The apostles were mem- 
bers of the family of Jesus ; they travelled with him, on foot, 
throughout the length and breadth of Palestine ; they partook 
with him of his frugal meals, and bore with him the trial of 
hunger, weariness, and want of shelter ; they followed him 
through the lonely wilderness and the crowded street ; they 
saw his miracles in every variety of form, and listened to his 
discourses in public as well as to his explanations in private. 
Hence their whole narrative is instinct with life ; a vivid 
picture of Jewish manners and customs, rendered more defi- 
nite and characteristic by the moral light which then, for the 
first time, shone upon it. Hence it is that these few pages 
are replete with moral lessons that never weary us in the 
perusal, and which have been the source of unfailing illumi- 
nation to all succeeding ages. 

The verses which I have read, as the text of this discourse, 
may well be taken as an illustration of all that I have here said. 
They may, without impropriety, be styled a day of the life 
of Jesus of Nazareth. By observing the manner in which 
our blessed Lord spent a single day, we may form some 
conception of the kind of life which he ordinarily led ; and 
we may, perchance, treasure up some lessons which it were 
well if we should exemplify in our daily practice. 

The place at which these events occurred was near the 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 237 

head of the Sea of Galilee, where it receives the waters of the 
upper Jordan. This was one of the Savior's favorite places 
of resort. Capernaum, Chorasin, and Bethsaida, all in this 
immediate vicinity, are always spoken of in the Gospels as 
towns which enjoyed the largest share of his ministerial labors, 
and were distinguished most frequently with the honor of his 
personal presence. The scenery of the neighborhood is wild 
and romantic. To the north and west, the eye rests on the 
lofty summits of Lebanon and Hermon. To the south, there 
opens upon the view the blue expanse of the lake, enclosed by 
frowning rocks, which here and there jut over far into the 
waters, and then again retire towards the land, leaving a 
level beach to invite the labors of the fisherman. The people, 
removed at a considerable distance from the metropolis of 
Judea, cultivated those rural habits with which the simple 
tastes of the Savior would most readily harmonize. Near 
this spot was also one of the most frequented fords of the 
Jordan, on the road from Damascus to Jerusalem ; and thus, 
while residing here, he enjoyed unusual facilities for dissemi- 
nating throughout this whole region a knowledge of those 
truths which he came on earth to promulgate. 

Some weeks previously to the time in which the events spoken 
of in the text occurred, our Lord had sent his disciples to 
announce the approach of the kingdom of heaven, in all the 
cities and villages which he himself proposed to visit. He 
conferred on them the power to work miracles, in attestation 
of their authority, and of the divine character of him by whom 
they were sent. He imposed upon them strict rules of con- 
duct, and directed them, to make known to every one who 
would hear them, the good news of the coming dispensation. 
As soon as he had sent them forth, he himself went immedi- 
ately abroad to teach and to preach in their cities. As their 
Master and Lord, he might reasonably have claimed exemption 
from the personal toil and the rigid self-denials to which ihey 
were by necessity subjected. But he laid claim to no such 
exemption. He commenced without delay the performance 



238 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of the very same duties which he had imposed upon them. 
He felt himself under obligation to set an example of obedi- 
ence to his own rules. " The Son of man," said he, " came 
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life 
a ransom for many." " Which," said he, " is greater, he that 
sitteth at meat, or he that serveth ? but I am among you as he 
that serveth." Would it not be well, if, in this respect, we copied 
more minutely the example of our Lord, and held ourselves 
responsible for the performance of the very same duties which 
we so willingly impose upon our brethren ? We best prove 
that we believe an act obligatory, when we commence the 
performance of it ourselves. Many zealous Christians employ 
themselves in no other labor than that of urging their brethren 
to efFort. Our Savior acted otherwise. In this respect, his 
example is specially to be imitated by his ministers. When 
they urge upon others a moral duty, they must be the first to 
perform it. When they inculcate an act of self-denial, they 
themselves must make the noblest sacrifice. Can we conceive 
of any thing which would so much increase the moral power 
of the ministry, and rouse to a flame the dormant energy of 
the churches, as obedience to this teaching of Christ by the 
preachers of his gospel ? 

It seems that the Savior had selected a well-known spot, at 
the head of the lake, for the place of meeting for his apostles, 
after this their first missionary tour had been completed. 
" The apostles gathered themselves unto Jesus, and told him 
all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught." 
There is something delightful in this filial confidence which 
these simple-hearted men reposed in their Almighty Redeemer. 
They told him of their success and their failure, of their wis- 
dom and their folly, of their reliance and their unbelief. We 
can almost imagine ourselves spectators of this meeting be- 
tween Christ and them, after this their first separation from 
each other. The place appointed was most probably some 
well-known locality on the shore of the lake, under the shadow 
of its overhanging rocks, where the cool air from the bosom 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 239 

of the water refreshed each returning laborer, as he came 
back beaten out with the fatigues of travel, under the burning 
sun of Syria. You can imagine the joy with which each drew 
near to the Master, after this temporary absence ; and th<; 
honest greetings with which every new comer was welcomed 
by those who had chanced to arrive before him. We can 
seem to perceive the Savior of men listening with affectionate 
earnestness to the recital of their various adventures ; and 
interposing, from time to time, a word either of encouragement 
or of caution, as the character and circumstances of each 
narrator required it. The bosom of each was unveiled before 
the Searcher of hearts, and the consolation which each one 
needed was bestowed upon him abundantly. The toilsome- 
ness of their journey was no longer remembered, as each one 
received from the Son of God the smile of his approbation. 
That was truly a joyful meeting. Of all that company there 
is not one who has forgotten that day ; nor will he forget it 
ever. With unreserved frankness they told Jesus of all that 
they had done, and what they had taught; of all their acts, 
and all their conversations. Would it not be better for us, if 
we cultivated more assiduously this habit of intimate inter- 
course with the Savior ? Were we ever}?- day to tell Jesus of 
all that we have done and said ; did we spread before him our 
joys and our sorrows, our faults and our infirmities, our 
successes and our failures, we should be saved from many an 
error and many a sin. Setting " the Lord always before us, 
he would be on our right hand, and we should not be moved." 
" He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall 
abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 

The Savior perceived that the apostles needed much in- 
struction which could not be communicated in a place where 
both he and they were so well known. They had committed 
many errors, which he preferred to correct in private. By 
doing his will, they had learned to repose greater confidence 
in his wisdom, and were prepared to receive from him more 
important instruction. But these lessons could not be delivered 



240 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

in the hearing of a promiscuous audience. Nor was this all. 
He perceived that the apostles were worn out with their labors, 
and needed repose. Surrounded as they were by the multi- 
tude, which had already begun to collect about them, rest and 
retirement were equally impossible. " There were many 
coming and going, and they had no leisure, even so much as 
to eat." He therefore said to them, " Come ye yourselves 
apart into a desert place, and rest a while." For this purpose, 
he u took ship, and crossed over with his disciples alone, and 
went into a desert place belonging to Bethsaida." 

The religion of Christ imposes upon us duties of retirement, 
as well as duties of publicity. The apostles had been for some 
time past before the eyes of all men, preaching and working 
miracles. Their souls needed retirement. " Solitude,' 1 said 
Cecil, "is my great ordinance." They would be greatly im- 
proved by private communion both with him and with each 
other. It was for the purpose of affording them such a season 
of moral recreation, that our Lord withdrew them from the 
public gaze into a desert place. Nor was this all. Their 
labor for some weeks past had been severe. They had trav- 
elled on foot under a tropical sun, reasoning with unbeliev- 
ers, instructing the ignorant, and comforting the cast down. 
Called upon, at all hours, both of the day and night, to work 
cures on those that were oppressed with diseases, their bodies, 
no less than their spirits, needed rest. Our Lord saw this, 
and he made provision for it. He withdrew them from labor, 
that they might find, though it were but for a day, the repose 
which their exhausted natures demanded. The religion of 
Christ is ever merciful, and ever consistent in its benevolence. 
It is thoughtful of the benefactor as well as of the recipient. 
It requires of us all, labor and self-sacrifice, but to these it 
affixes a limit. It never commands us to ruin our health and 
enfeeble our minds by unnatural exhaustion. It teaches us to 
obey the laws of our physical organization, and to prepare 
ourselves for the labors of to-morrow by the judiciously con- 
ducted labors of to-day. It was on this principle that our Lord 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 241 

conducted in his intercourse with his disciples. " He knew 
their frame, and remembered that they were dust." 

May we not from this incident derive a lesson of practical 
instruction ? I well know that there are persons who are 
always sparing themselves, who, while it is difficult to tell 
what they do, are always complaining of the crushing weight 
of their labors, and who are rather exhausted with the dread 
of what they shall do, than with the experience of what they 
have actually done. It is not of these that we speak. Those 
who do not labor have no need of rest. It is '>.o the honest, 
the painstaking, the laborious^ that we address the example 
in the text. We sometimes meet with the industrious, self- 
denying servant of Christ, in feeble health, and with an 
exhausted nature, bemoaning his condition, and condemning 
himself because he can accomplish no more, while so much 
yet remains to be done. To such a one we may safely pre- 
sent the example of the blessed Savior. When his apostles 
had done to the utmost of their strength, although the harvest 
was great, and the laborers few, he did not urge upon them 
additional labor, nor tell them that because there was so much 
to be done they must never cease from doing. No ; he tells 
them to turn aside and rest for a while. It is as though he had 
said, " Your strength is exhausted ; you cannot be qualified for 
subsequent duty until you be refreshed. Economize, then, 
your power, that you may accomplish the more.'" The Savior 
addresses the same language to us now. When we are worn 
down in his service, as in any other, he would have us rest, 
not for the sake of self-indulgence, but that we may be the 
better prepared for future effort. We do nothing at variance 
with his will, when we, with a good conscience, use the liberty 
which he has thus conceded to us. 

Jesus, with his disciples, crossed the water, and entered the 
desert ; that is, the sparsely inhabited country of Bethsaida. 
Desert, or wilderness, in the New Testament, does not mean 
an arid waste, but pasture land, forest, or any district to which 
one could retire for seclusion. Here, in the cool and tran- 
21 



242 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

quil neighborhood of the lake, he began to instruct his dis* 
ciples, and, without interruption, make known to them the 
mysteries of the kingdom. It was one of those seasons that 
the Savior himself rarely enjoyed. Every thing tended to 
repose : the rustling leaves, the rippling waves, the song of 
the birds, heard more distinctly in this rural solitude, all served 
to calm the spirit ruffled by the agitations of the world, and 
prepare it to listen to the truths which unveil to us eternity. 
Here our Lord could unbosom himself, without reserve, to his 
chosen few, and hold with them that communion which he was 
rarely permitted to enjoy during his ministry on earth. 

Soon, however, the whole scene is changed. The multi- 
tude, whom he had so recently left, having observed the 
direction in which he had gone, have discovered the place of 
his retreat. An immense crowd approaches, and the little 
company is surrounded by a dense mass of human beings 
pressing upon them on every side. These are, however, only 
the pioneers. At last, five thousand men, besides women and 
children, are beheld thronging around them. 

Some of these suitors present most importunate claims. 
They are in search of cure for diseases which have baffled 
the skill of the medical profession, and, as a last resort, they 
have come to the Messiah for aid. Here was a parent bring- 
ing a consumptive child. There were children bearing on a 
couch a paralytic parent. Here was a sister leading a brother 
blind from his birth, while her supplications were drowned by 
the shout of a frenzied lunatic who was standing by her side. 
Every one, believing his own claim to be the most urgent, 
pressed forward with selfish importunity. Each one, caring 
for no other than himself, was striving to attain the front rank, 
while those behind, disappointed, and fearing to lose this im- 
portant opportunity, were eager to occupy the places of those 
more fortunate than themselves. The necessary tumult and 
disorder of such a scene you can better imagine than I can 
describe. 

This was, doubtless, by no means a welcome interruption 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 243 

The apostles needed the time for rest; for they were worn 
out in the public service. They wanted it for instruction; 
for such opportunities of intercourse with Christ were rare. 
But what did they do ? Did our Lord inform the multitude 
that this day was set apart for their own refreshment and 
improvement, and that they could not be interrupted? As 
he beheld them approaching, did he quietly take to his boat, 
and leave them to go home disappointed ? Did he plead his 
own convenience, or his need of repose, as any reason for not 
attending to the pressing necessities of his fellow-men ? 

No, my brethren, very far from it. The providence of God 
had brought these multitudes before him, and that same 
providence forbade him to send them away unblessed. He at 
once broke up the conference with his disciples, and addressed 
himself to the work before him. His instructions were of 
inestimable importance ; but I doubt if even they were as im- 
portant as the example of deep humility, exhaustless kindness, 
and affecting compassion which he here exhibited. When the 
Master places work before us which can be done at no other 
time, our convenience must yield to other men's necessities. 
" The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister." You can imagine to yourself the Savior rising from 
his seat, in the midst of his disciples, and presenting himself 
to the approaching multitudes. His calm dignity awes into 
silence this tumultuous gathering of the people. Those who 
came out to witness the tricks of an empiric, or listen to the 
ravings of a fanatic, find themselves, unexpectedly, in a 
presence that repels every emotion but that of profound 
veneration. The light-hearted and frivolous are awe-struck 
by the unearthly majesty that seems to clothe the Messiah as 
with a garment. And yet it was a majesty that shone forth 
conspicuously most of all, by the manifestation of unparalleled 
goodness. Every eye that met the eye of the Savior quailed 
before him ; for it looked into a soul that had never sinned ; 
and the spirit of the sinner felt, for the first time, the full 
power of immaculate virtue. 



244 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Thus the Savior passed among the crowd, and "healed all 
that had need of healing.'" The lame walked, the lepers were 
cleansed, the blind received their sight, the paralytic were 
restored to soundness, and the bloom of health revisited the 
cheeks of those that but just now were sick unto death. 

The work to be done for the bodies of men was accom- 
plished, and there yet remained some hours of the summer's 
day unconsumed. The power and goodness displayed in 
this miraculous healing, would naturally predispose the people 
to listen to the instructions of the Savior. This was too val- 
uable an opportunity to be lost. Our Lord therefore pro- 
ceeded to speak to them of the things concerning the kingdom 
of God. We can seem to perceive the Savior seeking an 
eminence from whence he could the more conveniently 
address this vast assembly. You hear him unfold the laws 
of God's moral government. He unmasks the hypocrisy of 
the Pharisees ; he rebukes the infidelity of the Sadducecs ; 
he exposes the folly of the frivolous, as well as of the selfish 
worldling ; he speaks peaceably to the humble penitent ; he 
encourages the meek, and comforts those that be cast down. 
The intellect and the conscience of this vast assembly are 
swayed at his will. The soul of man bows down in rever- 
ence in the presence of its Creator. " He stilleth the noise 
of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the 
people." As he closes his address, every eye is moistened 
with compunction for sin. Every soul cherishes the hope 
of amendment. Every one is conscious that a new moral 
light has dawned upon his soul, and that a new moral universe 
has been unveiled to his spiritual vision. As the closing 
words of the Savior fell upon their ears, the whole multitude 
stood for a while unmoved, as though transfixed to the earth 
by some mighty spell ; until, at last, the murmur is heard 
from thousands of voices, " Never man spake like this man." 

But the shades of evening are gathering around them. 
The multitude have nothing to eat. To send them away 
fasting would be inhuman, for divers of them came from far, 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 245 

and many were women and children, who could not perform 
their journey homeward without previous refreshment. To 
purchase food in the surrounding towns and villages would 
be difficult ; but even were this possible, whence could the 
necessary funds be provided ? A famishing multitude was 
thus unexpectedly cast upon the bounty of our Lord. He 
had not tempted God by leading them into the wilderness. 
They came to him of themselves, to hear his words and to 
be healed of their infirmities. He could not " send them 
away fasting, lest they should faint by the way." In this 
dilemma, what was to be done ? He puts this question to his 
disciples, and they can suggest no means of relief. The 
little stock of provisions which they had brought with them 
was barely sufficient for themselves. They can perceive no_ 
means whatever by which the multitude can be fed, and they 
at once confess it. 

The Savior, however, commands the twelve to give them 
to eat. They produce their slender store of provisions, 
amounting to five loaves and two small fishes. He com- 
mands the multitude to sit down by companies on the grass. 
As soon as silence is obtained, he lifts up his eyes to heaven, 
and supplicates the blessing of God upon their scanty meal. 
He begins to break the loaves and fishes, and distribute them 
to his disciples, and his disciples distribute them to the multi- 
tude. He continues to break and distribute. Basket after 
basket is filled and emptied, yet the supply is undiminished. 
Food is carried in abundance to the famishing thousands. 
Company after company is supplied with food, but the five 
loaves and the two fishes remain unexhausted. At last, the 
baskets are returned full, and it is announced that the wants 
of the multitude are supplied. The miracle then ceases, 
and the multiplication of food is at an end. 

But even here the provident care of the Savior is mani- 
fested. Although this food has been so easily provided, it is 
not right that it be lightly suffered to perish. Christ wrought 
no miracles for the sake of teaching men wastefulness. That 
2i # 



246 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

food, by what means soever provided, was a creature of God, 
and it were sin to allow it to decay without accomplishing the 
purposes for which it was created. " Gather up the frag- 
ments," said the Master of the feast, " that nothing be lost." 
"And they gathered up the fragments that remained, twelve 
baskets full." 

Dissimilar as are our circumstances to those of our Lord, 
we may learn from this latter incident a lesson of instruction. 

In the first place, as I have remarked, the Savior did not 
lead the multitude into the wilderness without making pro- 
vision for their sustenance. This would have been presump- 
tion. They followed him without his command, and he found 
himself with them in this necessity. He had provided for 
his own wants, but they had not provided for theirs. The 
providence of God had, however, placed him in his present 
circumstances, and he might therefore properly look to Prov- 
idence for deliverance. This event, then, furnishes the rule 
by which we are to be governed. When we plunge ourselves 
into difficulty, by a neglect of the means or by a misuse of 
the faculties which God has bestowed upon us, it is to be 
expected that he will leave us to our own devices. But 
when, in the honest discharge of our duties, we find our- 
selves in circumstances beyond the reach of human aid, we 
then may confidently look up to God for deliverance. He 
will always take care of us while we are in the spot where 
he has placed us. When he appoints for us trials, he also 
appoints for us the means of escape. The path of duty, 
though it may seem arduous, is ever the path of safety. We 
can more easily maintain ourselves in the most difficult posi- 
tion, God being our helper, than in apparent security relying 
on our own strength. 

The Savior, in full reliance upon God, with only five loaves 
and two fishes, commenced the distribution of food amongst 
this vast multitude. Though his whole store was barely 
sufficient to supply the wants of his immediate family, he 
began to share it with the thousands who surrounded him. 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 247 

Small as was his provision at the commencement, it remained 
unconsumed until the deed of mercy was done, and the wants 
of the famishing host were supplied. Nor were the disciples 
losers by this act of charity. After the multitude had eaten 
and were satisfied, twelve baskets full of fragments remained, 
a reward for their deed of benevolence. 

From this portion of the narrative, we may, I urnk, learn 
that if we act in faith, and in the spirit of Christian love, we 
may frequently be justified in commencing the most impor- 
tant good work, even when in possession of apparently inade- 
quate means. If the work be of God, he will furnish us with 
helpers as fast as they are needed. In all ages, God has 
rewarded abundantly simple trust in him, and has bestowed 
upon it the highest honor. We must, however, remember 
the conditions upon which alone we may expect his aid, lest 
we be led into fanaticism. The service which we undertake 
must be such as God has commanded, and his providence 
must either designate us for the work, or, at least, open the 
door by which we shall enter upon it. It must be God's 
work, and not our own ; for the good of others, and not for 
the gratification of our own passions ; and, in the doing of it, 
we must, first of all, make sacrifice of ourselves, and not of 
others. Under such circumstances, there is hardly a good 
design which we may not undertake with cheerful hopes of 
success, for God has promised us his assistance. " If God 
be for us, who can be against us ? " The calculations of the 
men of this world are of small account in such a matter. It 
would have provoked the smile of an infidel to behold the 
Savior commencing the work of feeding five thousand men 
with a handful of provisions. But the supply increased as 
fast as it was needed, and it ceased not until all that he had 
prayed for was accomplished. 

Perhaps, also, we may learn from this incident another 
lesson. If I mistake not, it suggests to us that in works of 
benevolence we are accustomed to rely too much on human, 
and too little on divine, aid. When we attempt to do good, 



248 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

we commence by forming large associations, and suppose 
that our success depends upon the number of men whom we 
can unite in the promotion of our undertaking. Every one 
is apt thus to forget his own personal duty, and rely upon the 
labor of others, and it is well if he does not put his organiza- 
tion in the place of God himself. Would it not be better if 
we made benevolence much more a matter between God and 
our own souls, each one doing with his own hands, in firm 
reliance on divine aid, the work which Providence has placed 
directly before him ? Our Lord did not send to the villages 
round about to organize a general effort to relieve the famish- 
ing. In reliance upon God, he set about the work himself, 
with just such means as God had afforded him. All the 
miracles of benevolence have, if I mistake not, been wrought 
in the same manner. The little band of disciples in Jerusa- 
lem accomplished more for the conversion of the world than 
all the Christians of the present day united. And why ? Be- 
cause every individual Christian felt that the conversion of 
the world was a work for which he himself, and not an 
abstraction that he called the church, was responsible. Instead 
of relying on man for aid, every one looked up directly to 
God, and went forth to the work. God was thus exalted, the 
power was confessed to be his own, and, in a few years, the 
standard of the cross was carried to the remotest extremities 
of the then known world. 

Such has, I think, been the case ever since. Every great 
moral reformation has proceeded upon principles analogous to 
these. It was Luther, standing up alone in simple reliance 
upon God, that smote the Papal hierarchy; and the effects of 
that blow are now agitating the nations of Europe. Roger 
Williams, amid persecution and banishment, held forth that 
doctrine of soul-liberty which, in its onward march, is disen- 
thralling a world. Howard, alone, undertook the work of 
showing mercy to the prisoner, and his example is now 
enlisting the choicest minds in Christendom in this labor of 
benevolence. Clarkson, unaided, a young man, and without 



A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 243 

influence, consecrated himself to the work of abolishing the 
slave trade ; and, before he rested from his labors, his country 
had repented of and forsaken this atrocious sin. Raikes saw 
the children of Gloucester profaning the Sabbath day ; he set 
on foot a Sabbath school on his own account, and now millions 
of children are reaping the benefit of his labors, and his 
example has turned the attention of the whole world to the 
religious instruction of the young. With such facts before us, 
we surely should be encouraged to attempt individually the 
accomplishment of some good design, relying in humility and 
faith upon Him who is able to grant prosperity to the feeblest 
effort put forth in earnest reliance on his almightiness. 

Such were the occupations that filled up a day in the life of 
Jesus of Nazareth. There was not an act done for himself; 
all was done for others. Every hour was employed in the 
labor which that hour set before him. Private kindness, the 
relief of distress, public teaching, and ministration to the wants 
of the famishing, filled up the entire day. Let his disciples 
learn to follow his example. Let us, like him, forget our- 
selves, our own wants, and our own weariness, that we may, 
as he did, scatter blessings on every side, as we muve onward 
in the pathway of our daily life. 

But no matter how onerous or incessant were the duties that 
pressed upon our Lord ; he always found leisure for private 
devotion. " When he had sent them away, he departed into 
a mountain to pray." My brethren, does not our Lord's con- 
duct on this occasion suggest to us an important monition ? 
We frequently suppose that the earnest discharge of a Chris- 
tian duty renders communion with God less necessary to our 
spiritual improvement. This supposition finds no support in 
the example of the Savior. Though mind and body were 
weary in the labor of doing good, yet every moment of the 
day had been spent in the company of the disciples, or in a 
crowd, and he needed to be alone with God. Wearied as he 
was, he might have been seen toiling up the steep mountain 
side, that he might spend the silent hours of the night in 



250 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

secret devotion. Let every Christian, and specially every 
minister, remember this. The holiness of our calling 
and our active labor in it, do not render private prayer 
at all the less needful to our souls. Irreligious labor in 
religious things exposes the soul to the most subtile power of 
temptation. Let every day's labor close with prayer, confes- 
sion, and thanksgiving, if we would with renewed strength 
enter upon the labors of the morrow. 



THE BENEVOLENCE OE THE GOSPEL. 



"And -whether one member suffer, all the members suffeb 
with it ; or one member is honored, all the members re- 
joice with it." 

1 Corinthians xii. 26. 

In this passage the apostle is enforcing the truth that God 
bestows upon us nothing merely on our own account. Every tal- 
ent with which we are intrusted is committed to us rather for 
the good of others than ourselves. This doctrine, so essential 
to every true conception of Christianity, he illustrates by a 
reference to the uses of the several members of the human 
body. Neither the eye, nor the ear, nor the hand, is made 
for itself; all are made for each other and for the whole. If 
any one of them acted for itself, and not for the body, all 
would suffer injury, and the offending member would bear its 
full part of the mischief which it had brought upon the rest. 
On the contrary, the action of each part for the whole pro- 
duces universal health, in which each member participates. 
In a word, the union of the several members is so intimate, 
the sympathy which pervades them is so intense and vigilant, 
that whatever affects one member, by the necessity of our 
constitution, affects all the others. If one member suffer, 
all the members suffer with it ; if one member is honored, all 
the members rejoice with it. 

The apostle is here speaking of a Christian church, and in 
this verse he teaches us an important lesson. We thus may 
learn the obligations which every Christian owes to every other 

(251) 



252 THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

Christian brother. Every believer is a member of that body 
of which Christ is the head. One bond of affection unites 
every disciple to the whole brotherhood of saints, and unites 
the whole body to the same Redeemer, who has purchased us 
with his blood. We should all sympathize in the sorrows, and 
rejoice in the joys, of each other, as if they were our own. 
No matter how wide the distance which separates us from 
each other ; no matter how great the difference in our exter- 
nal circumstances ; no matter how much we may believe a 
brother to be in error; if he be a brother, we must love him 
with an earnest and unswerving Christian affection. We 
must rejoice in his prosperity, sympathize in his adversity, 
bearing each other's burdens, and so fulfilling the law of 
Christ. Each is a member of the same body ; all are pervad- 
ed by the same spirit ; all are beloved by the same Redeemer ; 
and every one is bound to live, not for himself, but for his 
brethren for whom Christ died. 

But is this principle of action peculiar to the church of 
Christ ? or is it common to humanity ? Manifestly the latter. 
The assertion is true, in some sense, whenever we associate 
ourselves with our fellow-men. It enters into the very idea 
of a society, that we confide some portion of our happiness to 
the keeping of others. We and they are reciprocally affect- 
ed by whatever affects every member. It is just as true of 
humanity as of Christianity, that if one member suffer, all 
the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all 
the members rejoice with it. It is the law under which we 
are created, that we cannot really benefit ourselves without 
also benefiting others ; we cannot injure others without also, 
in some way, and at some time, inflicting injury upon our- 
selves. We are as truly social as we are individual beings. 
We find ourselves members of various societies as soon as 
we exist. To these we add voluntary associations of our own. 
Isolate ourselves as much as we please, we are still members 
of the brotherhood of man ; we and our fellow-men recipro- 
cally influence each other, and no being but God can tell 
what power the very weakest of us may exert over the desti- 



THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. £53 

nies of humanity. We are bound together by ties which we 
cannot sever if we would, and we can neither suffer nor enjoy 
without awakening an emotion of pleasure or of pain in the 
bosom of others. 

Take, for the sake of illustration, that domestic circle which 
we designate the family. In this society we find ourselves at 
the first dawning of consciousness, and we never leave it 
until we enter upon eternity. Let, now, one member of this 
body suffer, though it be the youngest and the least consider- 
able, and what a shade of sadness is spread over the whole 
household ! What nights of sleeplessness and what days of 
anguish are consumed in watching over the suffering infant ! 
When, at last, every effort has proved fruitless, and Death has 
impressed his seal upon that face so lately radiant with inno- 
cent joy, how sadly earnest is the gaze of parents, and broth- 
ers, and sisters upon the placid loveliness of that beautiful 
corpse ! Long afterwards shall that image remain deeply em- 
bedded in the memory, when these brothers and sisters have 
become men and women, gray-headed and care-worn ; and 
this first bereavement will ever hold a conspicuous place in 
their calendar of sorrows, until they themselves have put on 
immortality. 

Let, now, this family grow up to maturity, and each mem- 
ber enter upon the appropriate duties of his individual calling. 
It might, at first, seem as though the chain which once bound 
them so closely together had been severed, and that any one 
of them might suffer or enjoy, without affecting, either for 
good or for evil, the destiny of any of the others. They rare- 
ly meet, they but occasionally correspond, and the thought of 
each other rarely breaks in upon the pressing cares of each 
one's daily occupation. But let any of these brothers, by the 
display of unusual talent, or the manifestation of surpassing 
character, attain to high distinction, and what a lustre is at 
once reflected on all who bear his name ! Their con- 
nection with him is enough to raise them from obscurity to 
renowri, and their fellow-citizens confer upon them honors, 
22 



254 THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

not for what they have done themselves, but on account of 
their relationship to a public benefactor. 

Or let it be otherwise. Be it that a member of a family 
has disgraced himself by crime, nay, by crime with which 
no relative whatever has had the remotest connection. Ob- 
serve how mournfully the disgrace settles down upon parents, 
and brothers, and sisters, and kindred. No one accuses them 
of any participation in the wrong doing, and yet they all feel 
that, whether justly or unjustly, their hold upon society has 
been loosened, if not broken. They dread to meet the gaze 
of their fellow-citizens. The very pity which their condition 
awakens, only reminds them of the calamity which has fallen 
upon their lineage. They may flee to foreign climes, they 
may strive to hide their degradation under a change of name, 
but it is all in vain. Nothing can obliterate the fact that a 
brother is a felon. The barbed arrow rankles in the wound, 
and it cannot be extracted. It clings to them in their flight, 
and the poison drinks up their spirit. They have done noth- 
ing wrong ; nay, they have labored to the utmost to correct 
those evil tempers from which the wrong doing has proceeded. 
All this is true, all this may be known, but yet it avails not. 
The law cannot be broken ; if one member suffer, all the 
members suffer with it. 

But we are members of a larger society, the community in 
which we live. Our happiness here is subject to the same law ; 
and we can enjoy the gifts of God's providence in no way so 
well as by making others the sharers with us in his bounty. 
If our fellow-men around us suffer, we shall suffer also, un- 
less we do all in our power to relieve them. We may be 
living luxuriously, surrounded by all that can render life de- 
sirable. We understand the laws of health, and we obey 
them. We do more than this ; we deal out our bread to the 
hungry, but we go no farther ; for we leave the poor around 
us to grow up unblessed by our personal care. There are in- 
temperance, and ignorance, and filth in our vicinity; our 
brethren are herding together in squalid cabins, breathing air 



THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 255 

loaded with foul miasmata, unconscious of the laws of their 
being as the brutes that perish. The social chasm which 
divides them from ourselves is so wide and so deep that we 
seem to have escaped the operation of this universal law. 
But let now a deadly epidemic be borne on the wings of the 
wind, and we shall see it alight with inevitable certainty upon 
this forlorn and neglected neighborhood. It strikes down at 
first the bloated and gorged inebriate ; then his poor but tem- 
perate and industrious neighbor sickens and dies. Soon the 
disease nestles in this unclean and repulsive hamlet, and 
breathes its unseen poison into the surrounding atmosphere. 
It is wafted by the passing breeze to the dwellings of the opu- 
lent, the virtuous, and the intelligent. The foremost man in 
the whole community is borne to his grave, followed by a 
neighborhood in tears. A strong rod is broken and withered, 
and every man feels that the state has suffered a loss which 
no survivor is able to supply. The plague spreads from house 
to house until the town falls prostrate under the pressure of a 
universal calamity. And all this sorrow sprang from a few 
neglected hovels, whose population seemed hardly of suffi- 
cient importance to sully the fair reputation of the smiling 
village in its vicinity. Neglected and forgotten as these 
paupers were, they were a part of our common humanity ; and 
the pestilence which they first attracted, and then scattered 
abroad, utters in solemn accents the words of the text — if one 
member suffer, all the members suffer with it. 

Or we may take an illustration from a more extensive 
field. How often has the form of social organization been 
constructed for the sole benefit of the few, rather than the 
whole ! The titled, the wealthy, and the refined assume to be 
the favorites of Heaven, whose rights must be guaranteed and 
their happiness provided for, while the masses remain unpro- 
tected by law and unbefriended by benevolence. You will 
see the face of the land here and there beautified by the man- 
sions of the proprietors, whose broad acres overspread the 
landscape, while the million, the children of ignorance • and 



256 THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

vice, herd together in cabins like brutes, and unchecred by 
any hope of improving their condition, and " hammered to 
the galling oar for life," know of no higher enjoyment than 
sensual gratification. All this goes on quietly, it may be, for 
many generations. At last, some general famine drives the 
multitude to despair, or some giant act of oppression maddens 
them to frenzy, or the infection of revolution is caught from 
some neighboring nation, and some plebeian, endowed by na- 
ture with power to command, sets before his brethren the his- 
tory of their wrongs, and points out to them the means of 
redress. At once the underlying stratum is upheaved, and 
a social convulsion crumbles into dust the fabric of govern- 
ment which ages had cemented. Prince and peasant, wise 
and unwise, the rude and the refined, the innocent and 
the guilty, are overwhelmed in a common catastrophe ; and, 
after ages of untold calamity, they may not yet have 
found a solid basis on which the foundations of the social 
edifice shall rest. And they will never find it, until they 
shall learn to reverence and love the humanity of the New 
Testament, and practically to obey the precept, " Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself." And if oppression always re- 
coils with redoubled violence upon the head of the oppressor, 
our own country may, from such instances as these, learn a 
lesson of solemn instruction. It will be well if we learn it in 
season. 

Or we may, if you please, observe the relations of a sin- 
gle individual to a whole nation. Suppose that a government 
lays its hand unrighteously upon the smallest portion of the 
property of a citizen, — it matters not whether he be rich or 
poor, high-born or lowly. It may be, for instance, the ship- 
money of Hampden, or the trifling tax on tea that inaugu- 
rated our revolution. The act of oppression is resisted, and 
the case is carried up from court to court until a decision is 
had from the highest authority in the land. The unjust claim 
is enforced by the whole power of the government. At once 
the shock is felt by the remotest citizen of the realm. One 



THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. £57 

member has suffered, and all the members have suffered with 
it. Every man feels that his rights are prostrated by the 
blow which has struck down the rights of his neighbor. The 
property of every man is henceforth placed within the grasp 
of arbitrary power. By inflicting injustice on a single citi- 
zen, the government has outraged the moral sentiment of the 
nation. And it must retrace its steps, and acknowledge its 
own submission to social law ; or else, unless the love of lib- 
erty be wholly extinguished, a revolution must ensue which 
will trample the throne and altar in the dust, and scatter the 
minions of despotism like the dust of the summer threshing 
floor. 

And lastly, I will take an illustration from a still wider 
field. Were I to ask any one of you to-day, What, concern 
have we, in this country, and at this time, with Warren Has- 
tings and his conquests in British India ? your reply would 
naturally be, None at all. We pity the sorrows of the nations 
and their rulers, and are shocked at the barbarity with which 
vast regions were devastated for the sake of gold ; but in what 
respect we, or ours, are either the better or the worse for all 
that was then done and suffered, we cannot tell. But we are 
all more intimately connected with these events than we might 
at first suppose. It is said, and I believe truly, that the 
cholera, that scourge of our race, was generated in Bengal 
in that awful famine so eloquently described by Burke ; and 
thus it is the direct result of the oppressions of which I have 
spoken. In Bengal it has established its permanent abode, 
and from time to time sets out from the banks of the Ganges 
on its mission of wrath, encircling the earth with the voice of 
mourning, lamentation, and woe. Thus we and those whom 
we love suffer at this day from deeds done on the other side 
of the globe, by a man whose name has long since passed 
into history. Thus we see that there is not a being on earth 
whose actions may not be a source of sorrow or of joy to us 
or to those that come after us. 

We perceive, then, that if such be the law under which we 
22* 



258 THE BENEVOLENCE OV THE GOSPEL. 

are created, the proper love of our own happiness would lead 
us, first of all, to seek the happiness of our brethren. If each 
one rejoices in the happiness of the whole, then the greater 
the happiness of the whole, the greater must be the happiness 
of each. If every member suffers in the suffering of all, 
every one will shield himself from suffering by alleviating 
the sufferings of humanity. The intelligent and opulent 
neighborhood would have saved itself from epidemic by 
transforming the filthy hovels of the hamlet into comfortable 
dwellings, and imbuing the minds of their inhabitants with the 
principles of temperance, piety, and self-respect. The he- 
reditary nobility of France would have averted that most 
fearful of revolutions, had they, instead of living basely to 
themselves, lived to minister blessings to those who, in the 
social scale, occupied a position beneath them. If the mon- 
arch of England, eschewing the fallacy of kingly prerogative, 
had risen to the true conception of his office as the chief magis- 
trate of a nation of freemen, and, in utter self-forgetfulness, 
sought only the highest good of the people committed to his 
charge, he might have prevented the catastrophe which brought 
him to the block, and transmitted his sceptre, wreathed with 
imperishable glory, to his remotest descendants. Had Warren 
Hastings treated the nations of Hindostan like brethren of the 
human race, and, instead of visiting them with exterminating 
warfare, scattered broadcast among them the benefits of 
knowledge and the blessings of religion, to say nothing of 
the late sepoy mutiny, mankind might have escaped that fear- 
ful pestilence which has so often swept the earth with the 
besom of destruction, and consigned millions after millions 
to an untimely grave. 

We see, then, in a word, that happiness in a human bosom 
is a reflection from the happiness we have created in the 
bosom of another. We are made to be happy, not by selfish- 
ly seeking after personal gratification, but by laboring to 
promote the well-being of our brethren. That family is the 
happiest in which every member, in entire forgetfulness of 



THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 259 

self, is earnestly seeking the highest interests of the whole. 
That town, or state, or nation is the happiest in which the 
largest amount of talent, and capital, and influence is devoted 
to the benefit of the community. Acting upon this principle, 
every individual augments the happiness of all, and, in so 
doing, is attaining his own highest gratification. Acting on 
opposite principles, we care nothing for the happiness of our 
brethren, and suffer in our own persons the misery reflected 
from the manifestation of our mean and degrading selfish- 
ness. Such is evidently the law of our social constitution. 
God has made us for such a law, and his enactments can never 
be repealed. 

But, if such be the fact, another truth, equally important, 
springs directly out of it. If God has made our happiness to 
depend upon the course of life here indicated, he has done so 
to teach us his will. Whenever he has indissolubly associated 
our own happiness with any manner of living, he thus teaches 
us that such a manner of living is prescribed for us by him, 
our Creator. Hence the ground of a moral obligation. We 
must live, not for ourselves, but for others ; not only because 
it is expedient for us, but because it is right, because it is the 
command of our Father in heaven. A moral necessity is thus 
laid upon us. We cannot live to ourselves without doing vio- 
lence to our conscience and incurring the consequences of dis- 
obedience to God. We bury our talent in the earth instead of 
improving it, and incur the doom of the unprofitable servant. 

But, in a matter of so much importance, we are not obliged 
to ascertain our duty by the unassisted light of natural re- 
ligion. The Bible teaches us this doctrine on every one of 
its pages. God is here represented to us as the God of love, 
pouring forth a flood of happiness over the whole universe, 
and rejoicing in the well-being of creatures, rational and irra- 
tional, that he has made. But the Bible informs us that God 
has gone much farther than this. When our race, insignifi- 
cant as it is, had offended him by sin, and were at universal 
enmity against him, he gave up his well-beloved Son to redeem 



260 THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

us from the doom which we had merited. When the fulness 
of time was come, we behold him who is the brightness of 
the Father's glory, by whom all things were created, whether 
they be visible or invisible, taking upon him the form of a 
servant, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, be- 
coming obedient to death, the death of the cross, that he 
might open for us the door of everlasting life. Every as- 
pect of the plan of salvation presents to us our Creator and 
Redeemer, by every means which infinite love could devise, 
laboring at inconceivable sacrifice to save us from merited 
destruction, and confer upon us the blessing of a heavenly 
inheritance. 

Our Father in heaven, as I have elsewhere said, imposes 
upon us no duty of which in his own person he has not set us 
the example. We are to imitate his boundless beneficence, 
by using the talents of every kind which he has committed to 
us for the good of others. We are to imitate his self-sacri- 
ficing love in the plan of redemption, by reclaiming the 
vicious, relieving the unfortunate, raising the fallen, and 
carrying the good news of salvation to the lost and abandoned 
in the highways and hedges, to those whose souls no man has 
cared for. Such was the Spirit of Christ, and we are told 
that unless we have the Spirit of Christ we are none of his. 
No one of us liveth unto himself, and no one dieth unto him- 
self. In utter self-renunciation, we must, first of all, live 
unto God, and we cannot live unto him without following his 
example. At the last day, those only will be numbered with 
the blessed of the Father who have manifested their love to 
him by love to their brethren. Then shall the King say unto 
them at his right hand, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, in- 
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; 
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and 
ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye 
visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I 
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of 
these my brethren, ye have clone it unto me." 



THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 261 

Such, then, my brethren, is the teaching of our blessed 
Lord on this subject. Such is the law under which we were 
originally created. Such is this law spiritualized by the 
revelation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By the 
law of our constitution we are taught, as we love our own 
happiness, to care for the well-being of our neighbor. By the 
law of Christianity we are commanded to do this, not for our 
own advantage, nor yet solely for the love of our neighbor, 
but from the love of God, who receives this as the most ac- 
ceptable sacrifice that we can render unto him. Christianity 
elevates and expands the natural affections, until they embrace, 
not only the clique, the caste, the sect, the nation, but the whole 
family of man. It ennobles charity by elevating it to piety, 
and raises those graces which endear men to each other into 
the evidences of our union to Him who came from heaven to 
earth to seek and save that which was lost. God is love, and 
he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 
He that loveth not knoweth not God ; for God is love. 

You see, then, at a glance, the difference between a selfish 
and a religious life. In the one we live directly to gratify 
ourselves. We labor for wealth, for power, for pleasure, for 
social position, or political eminence. We ask, day by day, 
What shall we eat, what shall we drink, and wherewith shall 
we be clothed ? From centre to circumference our sphere of 
action is bounded by selfishness, or if it extends beyond that 
narrow circle, it comprehends only those who are bound to us 
by the ties of personal relationship, or instinctive affection, or 
the little clique to whom we are affianced by the bond of 
mutual admiration. We live unto ourselves, and we die 
unto ourselves. We have made sacrifices for no one ; we 
nave advanced no single interest of humanity. We have 
lived on earth, and have conferred on it no benefit. It is in 
no respect either happier or better for our having lived in it. 
It has no cause to remember us, and it consigns us to oblivion. 
We have consumed our probation in cultivating our appetites 
for the things that perish, until, hardened in selfishness and 



262 THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

stupid insensibility, we have not a single desire for that which 
is not of the earth earthy, and a holy God has become an 
object too dreadful for contemplation. Death solidifies our 
characters into adamant, and separates us forever from the 
only objects in the universe which we have learned to love. 
Our hearts are fixed in enmity to God, and we must meet 
him at the bar of judgment, to receive the just desert of a 
life of sin. We have hidden our talent in the earth, and we 
must bear the doom of the unprofitable servant. 

The Christian life proceeds upon wholly dissimilar princi- 
ples. The very first act of such a life, as I have said, is the 
surrender of the whole man, body and soul and spirit, to the 
will of God. Henceforth the man's will, his desires, and his 
affections, become subject to the holy and all-wise will of his 
Father who is in heaven. From being his enemy he is hence- 
forth his loving and obedient child. As a redeemed sinner 
he yields himself up joyfully to Him who has purchased him 
with his own blood, thus judging, that those that live shall not 
live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and is 
risen again. The Spirit takes up his abode in the heart of the 
man who is now a new creature in Christ Jesus, and it is 
henceforth his delight to do the will of God. His desire is, 
to do, in his feeble and imperfect manner, as his Father in 
heaven is doing with all the wisdom and love of the Godhead. 
The world becomes to him an object of interest, not because 
it furnishes the means of selfish gratification, but because it 
presents a field for boundless usefulness, a sphere for the ex- 
ercise of every benevolent affection. The whole brotherhood 
of man stands before him, suffering all the miseries entailed 
upon it by sin. Jesus Christ has appeared to put away sin by 
the sacrifice of himself, and open wide the door of heaven 
to every one that believeth. He has put forth his own hand 
to the work, and, by the sacrifice of himself, has insured its 
entire accomplishment. He has conceded to every disciple 
the privilege of being a co-worker with him in this his great 
labor of love. He has promised his almighty aid to every 



THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 26 O 

one who, in humility and faith, devotes himself to the per- 
formance of any good work. It is in this belief, and ani- 
mated by these assurances, that the disciple of Christ goes 
forth to the labor of his life. In the name of the Lord God 
he lifts up his banner. Forgetful of his own gratification, he 
seeks, first of all, the happiness of others, and mainly that 
happiness which springs from the renewal of the soul in the 
image of Christ, the only preparation for the enjoyment of 
heaven. In every effort to promote the highest interests of . 
man, he takes his place in the front rank of earnest, faithful, 
and self-sacrificing laborers. In him the young find a coun- 
sellor, the oppressed a defender, the poor a benefactor, the 
cast-down a comforter, and the children of infamy and vice a 
sympathizing brother, who will pity their sorrows, and lead 
them into the path of purity and eternal life. His course 
through life may be traced by the blessings that have been 
sown in his footsteps. The name of the wicked shall rot, but 
the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance. The 
blessing of him that is ready to perish shall come upon him 
and his children after him, for he delivered the poor when he 
cried, the fatherless and him that had no helper, and so an 
entrance shall be abundantly ministered to him into the ever- 
lasting kingdom of his God and Savior. 

My hearers, we are spending our probation under the most 
solemn of all possible conditions. The choice between these 
two modes of life is presented to every one of us. Each 
one of us must individually decide whether he will live to 
himself or to God, for time or for eternity. Which of the 
two do you choose, nay, which have you already chosen ? If 
you have made an unwise choice, your decision is not yet ir- 
revocable." You may yet retrace your steps, surrender your 
heart to God, believe on his Son Jesus Christ, and receive 
into your soul the renewing influences of his blessed Spirit. 
What will you do ? Will you live unto yourself, and lose 
your own soul, or will you live unto God, and enter into the 
rest that remaineth ? Now is the time for decision. Decide, 



264 THE BENEVOLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 

I pray you, in view of time and eternity, of the love of God 
in Christ Jesus, and of the great day of account, when you 
shall stand before the throne of your Redeemer and your 
Judge. 

You see, my brethren, that the religion which saves the 
soul is something more than a mere profession. It is not the 
performance of rites and ceremonial observances. It is not 
a belief in doctrines, however true or however solemn. It is 
not the mere indulgence of emotions, however pleasurable or 
however self-satisfying. It is a radical change in our moral 
nature, by which our selfishness is eradicated, and we are 
transformed, truly and in fact, into imitators of Christ. " If 
ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my com- 
mandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; he 
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love 
him, and will manifest myself unto him." Religious joy and 
and a religious life are thus inseparable. If we do the will of 
God, and follow the example of his Son, he will manifest his 
love to our own consciousness. Let us try ourselves by such 
tests as these, if we would assure our hearts before him. 
" Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, to whom I 
will testify, I never knew you." 



THE FAIL OF PETER. 



"And when he thought thereon, he wept." 

Mark xiv. 72. 

Few narratives in the gospel history are more deeply im- 
bued with practical instruction than that which relates the fall 
and the repentance of Peter, the apostle. The character of 
the man, his ardent zeal, and yet too fluctuating purpose, the 
circumstances of the case, its intimate connection with the 
sacred supper, the agony in the garden, the hall of Pilate, the 
betrayal and the crucifixion of the Redeemer, all conspire to 
bring this portion of the sacred writings frequently and vividly 
to our recollection. And yet, my brethren, I am not sure that 
we are disposed to view this subject in so practical a light as 
it manifestly deserves. We naturally consider an apostle, in 
many respects, as a peculiar man, and the circumstances in 
which this apostle was placed as peculiar circumstances ; and 
thus we see in the whole case so much of peculiarity that each 
one escapes from that practical application of the history, 
which the Holy Spirit intended to carry home to the bosom of 
every disciple who reads it. 

I freely grant that there is much of this sad story that may 
be considered peculiar. You are not the apostle Peter. Thi 
city is not Jerusalem. Your place of daily occupation is not 
the hall of a Roman magistrate. You are never in the per- 
sonal presence of Jesus Christ. Here, however, if I mistake 
not, the peculiarity of the case ends. Though not an apostle, 
you are, it may be, by public profession, a disciple of Jesus 
23 



2C6 THE FALL, OF PETER. 

Christ. Though you are not Peter, yet your heart is proba- 
bly as deceitful as his. Though this city be not Jerusalem, it 
is a province of that world which lieth in wickedness. Your 
placce of business is not the hall of Pilate ; yet it may 
surround you with as insidious temptations as those which 
there encircled the apostle Peter. It is, perhaps, on this 
account that the Holy Spirit has marked the various circum- 
stances attending this event with a particularity which allows 
us to apply every part of it to our own instruction. If, there- 
fore, we look upon this history in its true light, I think we 
shall discover that, far from presenting us with an isolated and 
solitary case, which might possibly be of use to us only on rare 
and uncommon occasions, it presents us with precisely the 
reverse. It teaches many a lesson which we must practise 
every day ; it utters notes of warning to which it becomes us 
continually to give heed, if we would escape the sorrows which 
fell upon the head of this falling and penitent apostle. 

My object in the present discourse will be to place before 
you some of the lessons which may be derived from a con- 
templation of this portion of scriptural history. May the 
Holy Spirit carry home to each heart the instruction which it. 
contains, so that our repentings may be enkindled within us, 
and that, looking backward over our past wanderings, we also 
may think thereon and weep. 

With all the facts connected with the fall of Peter I suppose 
you to be already familiar. I need not, therefore, consume 
your time by recapitulating them, but may, at once, proceed 
to consider them in their order. 

Commencing, then, with the narrative in the Gospels, I 
remark, in the first place, — 

Peter was forewarned of his danger. He thought the 
warning needless, and slighted it. " AH of you," said the 
Savior, " shall be offended because of me this night.' 1 Peter 
answered, " Though all men should be offended because of 
thee, yet will I never be offended." Jesus said unto him, 
" This night, before the cock shall crow twice, thou shalt deny 



THE FALL OF PETEH. 267 

me thrice," " But he spake the more vehemently, If I should 
die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise." 

We, like Peter, are commonly forewarned of the approach 
of moral danger. Conscience, especially when enlightened 
by the teachings of the Spirit of truth, admonishes us of the 
peril before it becomes imminent. It puts to us the solemn 
questions, Can this be right ? Will this be well pleasing to God ? 
Can I expose myself to this temptation unnecessarily and be 
innocent ? If I am called by my convictions of duty to walk 
amidst temptation, have I armed myself by humility, faith, and 
prayer ? Happy is the man whose conscience, habitually void 
of offence, is many times a day whispering in his ear such 
questions as these. But happier far is that man to whom they 
are never addressed in vain, who, without demur and without 
parley, instinctively, and with his whole soul, flees from the 
very appearance of evil. 

Peter was self-confident, and deemed the warning needless. 
But, blind to futurity, who, under the same circumstances, 
would not have been self-confident? As the immediate 
family of Jesus, they had just partaken of the sacramental 
supper. They had just listened to the parting words of the 
Savior. They had been melted into tears at the announce- 
ment of his approaching and mysterious departure. At no 
moment of their discipleship had he seemed so peculiarly 
dear to them. If the question had then been directly put to 
Peter, whether he would deny Christ or die, I believe that he 
would instantly have chosen death. After rising from supper, 
they walked together to the garden of Gethsemane, that they 
might spend the remainder of the night in prayer. Jerusalem 
was wrapped in slumber. It was impossible to discern the 
remotest indication of danger. Only a day or two had elapsed 
since their Master had entered Jerusalem amidst the shouts of 
grateful and exulting multitudes. The moral danger of hypo- 
critically professing attachment to Christ seemed far greater 
than that of denying him. 

As they threaded their way through those quiet streets, and 



268 THE FALL OF PETER. 

clustered together to hear every syllable that fell from the lips 
of their Master, and marked the fixed melancholy, the exceed- 
ing sorrowfulness, even unto death, which, without any visible 
cause, settled upon his countenance, how strangely must have 
come over their souls the recollection of his recent warning, 
" Verily I say unto you, that all of you shall be offended be- 
cause of me this night " ! To which of us, under these cir- 
cumstances, would not such an event have seemed incredible ? 
Who could have foreseen the trials that were already impend- 
ing ? Who could have believed that the warm affection which 
now- glowed in his bosom, could, by any possibility, be so sud- 
denly chilled ? Surrounded as they were by acquaintances, 
who of them could seem capable of such hardihood as to deny 
that he was a disciple of Christ? 

Peter, as well as the rest of the apostles, could foresee no 
danger, and therefore felt himself in no special need of pro- 
tection. He went forth that night in his own strength, anl the 
result was such as might have been expected. 

The enemy of souls did not, however, directly assail the 
virtue of Peter. He first stimulated his self-confidence until it 
exploded in folly, and exposed him to public disgrace. The 
moral power that is built upon natural self-reliance, crumbles 
into dust when self-reliance is smitten with confusion. It was 
on this principle that Peter was assaulted with the first tempta- 
tion. It resulted in his second error. 

The sad company, listening to the solemn instructions of our 
Lord, pursued their way to the garden of Gethsemane — a place 
to which they, together with their Master, often resorted for 
the purpose of quiet and secluded devotion. As soon as they 
had arrived there, Jesus desired them to sit down and pray, lest 
they should enter into temptation, while he went somewhat 
beyond them, and prayed also. Taking with him Peter, and 
James, and John, he retired into a more unfrequented part of 
the garden. Here he began to be sorrowful and very heavy, 
and said to these, his confidential friends, " Tarry ye here 
and watch with me while I go and pray yonder." All that he 



THE TALL OF PETER. 269 

asked of them was, that they would protect him from interrup- 
tion while he was preparing himself by prayer for the awfui 
events that were approaching. 

Soon the Lord was overwhelmed with his sore agony. Fall- 
ing to the ground, his body bathed in blood, he cries, " Father, 
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, 
not as I will, but as thou wilt." He rises and approaches these 
selected disciples, and they are already asleep. He arouses 
them, exhorts them to pray, and again retires to agonize in 
prayer. This was done thrice before the arrival of Judas. 
How sad a change has, within a few minutes, been wrought in 
this apostle ! But just now, and he seemed to love Christ better 
than life. Already has the tide of affection ebbed so low that 
he cannot keep watch for the Savior even for one hour. Thus 
sadly does mere emotion wither away when exposed to the test 
of self-denying reality. Almost the last occasion in which it 
was possible for him to testify love to his Master, has passed 
away unimproved. The Savior, in this hour of his dire neces- 
sity, might as well have relied upon strangers, as upon his 
chosen disciples. 

But the time for prayer and watching had now passed by. 
The time for action had arrived. The soldiery, with lanterns 
and torches, broke in upon the stillness of the scene. Jesus 
arouses the sleepers, and informs them of the approach of the 
betrayer. Starting suddenly from his guilty and unfeeling 
slumber, Peter desired to recover himself at once from his false 
position. Finding himself surrounded with armed men, the 
recollection of his Master's warning flashed upon his mind. 
He supposed that this was the trial to which Jesus had alluded, 
and that this was the occasion on which it had been predicted 
that he should deny his Lord. Strong in his own strength, he 
resolved boldly to meet the danger. He would show to Christ, 
and to his brethren, that he feared neither soldiers nor swords, 
neither wounds nor death. Anxious to give immediate proof 
of his courage, and to demonstrate that, though just now asleep, 
he was already quite prepared for any emergency, he drawa 
23* 



270 THE TALL OF PETER. 

his sword, smites a servant of the high priest, and cuts off his 
ear. In how few moments may an act be conceived, resolved 
upon, and committed, of which the consequences may affect our 
destiny forever ! Before he had become aware of his danger, 
pride, vain-glory, nay, perhaps anger and revenge, had swept 
with unresisted force over his soul. This was his second 
error. 

Observe, my brethren, the connection of these events. The 
self-confidence of Peter led him to spend this hour in sleep, 
which he should have spent in guarding his Master from inter- 
ruption, and in earnest prayer for divine assistance during the 
unknown trial that was approaching. Had he been awake and 
in prayer, he would not have been so abruptly surprised by the 
appearance of Judas with the soldiery. Had he been at this 
moment humble, watchful, and devout, his ardent temper, 
calmed by solemn reflection, would not have precipitated him 
into an act which had so important a bearing upon all his future 
conduct. My brethren, we are never in greater danger than 
when our own passions become mingled with religious emotion. 
There are few states of mind on which God looks down with 
sterner displeasure. 

The Savior rebuked the rash zeal of this disciple, healed the 
wounded man, and submitted himself to arrest. " Put up thy 
sword into its sheath," said the Lamb of God. " The cup 
which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? " These 
words were sufficient to discover to Peter his error, and fill him 
with regret and shame. He had displeased his Lord, he had 
prejudiced his cause, he had incensed the soldiery. He had 
made no friends, he had made many enemies, and his con- 
science testified to him that he had done wickedly. He had, 
by his sin, rendered the subsequent trial through which he must 
pass severer ; while he had, at the same time, enfeebled the 
moral power with which he must meet it. Nothing awakens 
fear like the consciousness of guilt. His self-confidence fled, 
and with it all his boasted fortitude. This sudden explosion of 
impetuosity was instantly succeeded by trembling cowardice. 



THE FALL OF PETER. 



271 



Seeing that Jesus offered no resistance, but suffered himself to 
be bound and led away like any other prisoner, he, with the 
rest, forsook him and fled. This man, who, but an hour before, 
had said, " I am ready to lay down my life for thy sake," and 
" though all men should be offended because of thee, yet 
will I never be offended," is already fleeing from the sight of 
the guard, and skulking in darkness amid the trees of the 
garden. This was his next error. Such, my brethren, is 
always the end of pride. A haughty spirit goeth before a 
fall. Such is the result of confidence in ourselves. Nothing 
will prepare us for the hour of trial like heartfelt humility. 
Nothing will sustain us amidst appalling dangers, but unshaken 
confidence in God. 

The guards soon disappeared with their prisoner. The 
glare of lanterns and torches faded away in the distance. 
Gethsemane was again as still as when they entered it. Peter 
groped away from his hiding-place. He had escaped the 
present danger and eluded the grasp of the soldiery. His alarm 
began to subside, and he reflected upon his condition. His 
affection partially revived. His Master was on his way to the 
hall of the high priest. Not a single disciple was in his company. 
Was it right that the compassionate Jesus should thus be left in 
the midst of his enemies ? Should no friend be near him to 
utter a word in his defence ? Should no disciple stand forth to 
testify to his holy life, and bear witness to his deeds of mercy ? 
The heart of Peter relented, for, though a rash and impetuous, 
he was also a kind and humane, man. Again he felt the throb 
of gratitude. He remembered his Master's love, his Master's 
warning, and his late and bitter agony. He cannot forsake his 
Savior altogether. He sees the glimmer of the torches on the 
road to Jerusalem. He turns his steps in that direction, and 
slowly follows the crowd that was bearing his Lord to the 
judgment seat. But what can he now do ? Shall he go at 
once among the soldiers, and avow his inviolable attachment to 
Christ ? This will expose him to more imminent danger than 
that which he has just escaped. The effects of his recent 



272 THE FALL OF PETER. 

rashness spread themselves out before him in all their appalling 
reality. Yet he could not persuade himself wholly to abandon 
his Master. Distracted to the uttermost by contending emo- 
tions, he resolved to do as probably many of us, in the like cir- 
cumstances, would have done. He pursued a neutral course — 
a course which would enable him to act according to circum- 
stances. He followed Christ afar off. This was another and a 
fatal error. He had already begun to repent ; but his repentance 
was baffling, undecided, and half-hearted. Had he even now 
resolved to surrender all for Christ, could he have brought 
himself manfully and publicly to confess his error, had he 
dared to take only one decided step, even now the ground 
which he had lost might have been retrieved. But he hesitated, 
he doubted, he trembled, until the time for action was past. 
He did not take that step, and the result proved that, in cases 
of moral trial, no man can come to a more fatal decision than 
that which fixes him upon neutral ground, and allows him to 
act for the future according to circumstances. 

Whenever we hesitate about performing a clearly appre- 
hended duty, trials multiply around us. Thus was it with Peter. 
Since the last setting sun, with a heart melted in love and 
gratitude, he had sat, with his brethren, around the sacramental 
supper, listening to the farewell address of our Lord. Within 
two or three hours, he had declared that he would die rather 
than deny him. Flow changed from all this is his present con- 
dition ! He had disregarded the warning of his Master. He 
had been publicly reproved for his rash impetuosity. He had 
basely deserted the Savior at the first approach of danger. He 
was now, under cover of the darkness, following the Lord afar 
off, not daring to avow his discipleship, and prepared only to 
change his position when circumstances favored ; that is, when 
nothing was to be risked by his fidelity. And in this hapless 
condition, with every moral principle quivering, and bowing 
before the whirlwind of contending emotions, he was approach- 
ing a trial under which the stoutest resolution might well nigh 
have quailed. 



THE FALL OF PETER. 273 

In this state of fearful indecision, he approaches the palace 
of the high priest. Well would it have been for him if he 
had never entered it. The apostle John, however, offered to 
gain him admittance ; and he, like any other man in this condi- 
tion, obedient to any impulse from without, accepts the invita- 
tion, and immediately finds himself in the common hall sur- 
rounded by servants and soldiers. He takes his seat among 
them like any unconcerned spectator, and, warming himself by 
the fire, waits at his leisure to see the end. 

The trial of the Son of God had already commenced. The 
Holy One was accused of blasphemy, and appealed to those 
who had heard him in proof of his innocence. Peter said not 
a word. He was accused of threatening to destroy the tem- 
ple. Peter well knew all the circumstances to which this 
accusation alluded, yet he offered no explanation. There was 
not a being present who was so minutely acquainted as Peter 
with the whole history of the Savior's life, and whose evidence 
could so fully have disproved every charge alleged against 
him ; but yet he uttered not a word. His testimony, offered in 
boldness and sincerity, might have baffled the malice of the 
Savior's accusers, and would at least have shown that those 
who knew him best believed him wholly harmless, undefiled, 
and separate from sinners. All this Peter knew. But his lips 
were strangely sealed in silence. Terrified, doubting, and 
guilty, he suffered the opportunity for doing his duty to pass 
by forever. 

The Savior was condemned, not for the doing of evil, but 
for revealing himself in his true character as the Son of God, 
the Savior of the world. He was mocked at and spit upon. 
He was surrendered up to the brutality of heathen soldiers. 
They blindfolded him, and, in ridicule of his claims to super- 
natural knowledge, cried out, " Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, 
who is he that smote thee ? " Was there no one present who 
would offer his own body to shield the Lamb of God from 
insult, pain, and indignity ? Yes ; there sat one of his chosen 
apostles, who was tamely beholding the whole of this atrocious 



274 THE FALL OF PETER. 

outrage. It was he who, a few hours before, had said, " I am 
ready to lay down my life for thy sake," but. who now had 
resolved to act according to circumstances. The circum- 
stances surely called loudly enough for the expression of his 
affection. But this resolution had been fatal. Every moral 
energy within him had vanished. He was trembling in every 
nerve, in a paroxysm of cowardice and guilt, incapable of 
making successful resistance to the slightest temptation. 

"While in this condition, a more decisive trial awaited him. 
As the light of the fire shone upon his pale and ghastly coun- 
tenance, a little maid, coming up, said, without apparently much 
intention, " Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth." He felt 
at once the inconsistency and sin of his situation. Here he 
was, associated with the servants and soldiers, looking like an 
unconcerned spectator upon the injuries heaped upon his Lord. 
To confess himself a disciple of Christ under such circum- 
stances would have been to plead guilty to inexcusable ingrati- 
tude, and would, moreover, have exposed him to personal 
danger. And yet he was not quite prepared to deny his Master 
in full. He adopted the usual expedient of a weak, irresolute, 
and double-minded man. He sought to escape detection by 
equivocation. " I know not," said he, " what thou sayest ; " 
and immediately the cock crew. Equivocation is at best a 
poor refuge for guilt. Least of all will it avail in a disciple 
of Christ. He who resorts to it will speedily be put to shame. 
It would have been far better, even now, for Peter, had he at 
all hazards humbly confessed his sin, and boldly acknowledged 
the truth. 

Fearing lest the same accusation should be pressed upon 
him again, he escapes from the hall, and retires to the porch. 
Here he hoped at least to elude detection. But where can a 
guilty conscience hide ? Where shall a soul find rest that has 
been false to the Savior? His very change of place only 
gives rise to further inquiry. Another servant met him with 
the same tormenting message, " This fellow also was with 
Jesus of Nazareth." He was advanced too far for retreat. 



THE FALL OF PETER. 275 

To confess the truth would now convict him both of ingrati 
tude and falsehood, for eveiy one understood his former answer 
as a denial of Christ, and he well knew that he meant it to be 
so understood. He was now prepared to go still farther. A 
simple denial would now hardly suffice. He declares with an 
oath, " I know not the man." He escapes in haste from the 
porch, and, harrowed by an accusing conscience, he again 
enters the hall, and finds himself in the immediate presence 
of Christ. But even here his sin finds him out. Again the 
tormenting accusation is brought against him, not by a little 
maid, but by the whole company or the soldiers. One cries 
out, " Surely thou art a Galilean, for thy speech betrayeth 
thee." Another, steadfastly beholding him, asks, in the hear- 
ing of them all, " Did not 1 see thee in the garden with him ? " 
Surrounded on all sides by the evidences of his guilt, agitated 
with shame and remorse, eveiy unholy passion within him 
burst forth into ungovernable rage. " He began to curse and 
to swear, saying, I know not the man." This was the con- 
summation of his crime. Immediately the cock crew. 

The deed was done. But, as the storm of passion subsided, 
who can conceive of the agony that rent the bosom of that 
miserable, fallen, old man ? He had heard his master falsely 
accused, and had not uttered a word in his defence. He had 
tamely looked on, while Jesus was smitten and spit upon, and 
neither came near to succor nor console him. Once, twice, 
thrice, he had denied him in the presence of a multitude who 
knew that he spoke falsely. He had dishonored his gray hairs 
by indecent passion and shameful profanity. In spite of his 
denials, he was well known to be a disciple of Jesus of Naza- 
reth. Who would not condemn the teacher, if such were the 
effects of his doctrines ? This chosen disciple, this intimate 
friend of the Savior, has inflicted an infinitely greater injury 
on the Lamb of God than the soldiers who bound him, the 
mob who reviled him, or even the High Priest who condemned 
him. Brethren, it is an evil and a bitter thing to sin against 
God. I suppose that, amid all the varieties of wretchedness 



276 THE FALL OF PETER. 

which this world then witnessed, there was not a man under 
the face of the whole heaven whose agony would not have 
been light in comparison with that which pressed upon the 
soul of this much-loved and highly-favored apostle. 

Where should he look for consolation ? His denial had 
stupefied his brethren. His profanity had astonished the 
soldiery. Gazing around in horror, he turns towards the 
judgment seat, and his eye meets the eye of his Savior. The 
self-condemned disciple, with the oath yet quivering on his 
lips, bending under the weight of remorse, overwhelmed with 
astonishment at his own atrocity, looks upon the face of the 
immaculate Jesus. That face revealed even now nothing but 
unchanged benevolence. Those features were not darkened 
by a single cloud of reproach. They were as placid as when 
he stood in glory on the holy mount. There beamed forth 
from that countenance nothing but love ; yet it was love 
saddened unto death, not by the buffeting, the shame, and the 
spitting, but by the ingratitude of his chosen disciple. That 
look of love subdued him. It recalled the whole history of 
the Savior's life. The solemn warning, the last supper, the 
farewell address, the intercessory prayer, the garden of Geth- 
semane, the bloody agony, — all came with one overwhelming 
gush to his recollection. That knitted brow is smoothed. That 
wrathful eye is quelled. That angry flush is followed by a 
deadly paleness. His knees smite one against another. The 
fountains of his grief are opened. He could not look again. 
He went out and wept bitterly. 

Thus ends this sad narrative. Every portion of it is filled 
with practical instruction. To some of its lessons I have alluded 
in the progress of the discourse. Let us endeavor, before we 
close, to impress them yet more deeply upon our recollection. 

1. The first error of the apostle was confidence in the 
strength of his own virtue, followed by its natural result, — the 
want of watchfulness. This was the commencement of his 
aberration, and the origin of all his subsequent 'sorrow. We 
have within ourselves no power to resist the assaults of tempta- 



THE FALL OF PETER. 277 

tion. Our only strength is in humble and earnest reliance 
upon the grace of Christ. St. Paul understood this when he 
said, " I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth 
me," " for when I am weak, then am I strong." It is rare, my 
brethren, that an humble and watchful soul is overcome by 
temptation. Never did a careless and proud man overcome it. 
And it would be well for us to remember that we are fre- 
quently in the greatest danger when we think ourselves most 
secure. Temptations are seldom nearer than when we suppose 
them most distant. On the evening of this sad night, Peter 
was sitting at the sacramental table, filled with devout and 
tender affection to Christ. Who could have foretold that such 
moral perils were closing around him, or that, by a series of 
indirect temptations, he could, before the morning light, be led 
into sins which then seemed to him far more terrible than 
death. Let this teach us the importance of constant watchful- 
ness unto prayer. Let us enter upon no day without com- 
mending its duties, its trials, its cares, its conversations, to the 
all-seeing and all-sustaining grace of the Savior. If we com- 
mit our way unto the Lord, he will direct our steps. If, 
conscious of our own weakness, and earnestly desirous to be 
delivered from all sin, we look to the hills from which cometh 
our help, the God in whom we trust will never deliver us up to 
the will of our enemies. What misery would Peter have 
escaped had he thus acted ! What miseries should we have 
escaped had this been the habit of our lives. 

2. The first sinful act of Peter arose from vain-glory. He 
wished to make a display of his courage. The occasion 
which gave power to this temptation was, his inexcusable 
slumber at the solemn hour of the Savior's agony. Desirous 
in any manner whatever to escape the imputation of want of 
affection, the emotion of love to his Master was intimately 
commingled with the fiery impetuosity of his natural temper. 
Such is the natural action of an ill-disciplined heart. Let this 
teach us the necessity of frequently and prayerfully scrutinizing 
our motives. How much of our religious zeal, when weighed 
24 



278 



THE FALL OF PETER. 



in the balances of the sanctuary, would be found alloyed with 
pride, sectarianism, vanity, and evil temper! Thus are we, 
like Peter, constantly liable to injure the cause of our Master, 
at one time by sloth and indifference, and at another by rash 
impetuosity. Peter was really doing no more for Christ, when, 
in his anger, he smote off the servant's ear, than when, 
stretched at length in the garden, he slumbered while Jesus 
was at prayer. 

One extreme is always liable to be succeeded by its oppo- 
site. Rashness is naturally followed by cowardice. Me who 
smote off the servant's ear was seen, in a few minutes, hiding 
himself in the darkness among the trees of the garden. But 
two extremes of wrong, though ever so closely united, never 
lead to rectitude. If we have sinned against Christ in one 
way, this can form no excuse for sinning against him in 
precisely the opposite way. If we find that our efforts in the 
cause of Christ have been mingled with pride and vain-glory, 
does this make it right for us to fold our hands in indolence, 
and resolve that we will do nothing ? Much less does it justify 
us in forsaking him entirely, and being found associated with 
his avowed enemies. 

3. The vacillation of Peter produced its natural result — 
insufficient and undecided repentance. He could not forsake 
his Master entirely. He dared not openly confess his fault, 
and meet the consequences of doing right. He followed Christ 
afar off. Thus difficult is it to do right, after we have once 
commenced the doing of wrong. Yet, after all, the bold, 
manly, and immediate forsaking of sin is the only safe course 
that can be taken. A course only half way right, is as peril- 
ous a one as can be chosen. Hence, let us learn, then, never 
to allow sin unrepented of to remain upon the conscience. 
At the last, it will bite like a serpent and sting like an adder. 
It will wither our spiritual strength, and inevitably lead us to 
aggravated transgression. Nothing could have restored to 
Peter the moral courage of innocence, but going at once to 
Christ, confessing his sin, and avowing his attachment, no 



THE FALL OF PETER. 



279 



matter what the avowal might have cost him. The rule is the 
same for eveiy one of us. We may be surprised into sin. 
Our only safety consists in forsaking it immediately. If we 
hesitate, our conscience will become defiled and our resolution 
weakened. It is also of the utmost importance that our 
reformation be bold, manly, and universal. A mere formal 
return to our duty, lip-service, shame, regret, desire to repent, 
like Peter's, following Christ afar off, will only lead us into 
greater moral dangers. 

4. Peter heard Jesus falsely accused, and he uttered not 
a word in his defence. The Son of man was buffeted and 
spit upon, yet Peter never rebuked the ruffians who were 
insulting him. This was a grievous and inexcusable sin. 
Yet, observe, it was not his doing, but his not doing, that was 
guilty. He was the friend and the witness of Christ. It was 
his duty to act, and to act promptly. By quietly looking on, 
when he ought to have acted, Peter prepared himself for all 
the guilt and misery that ensued. There can be no doubt 
that this friend and apostle of Christ, by standing there in 
silence, was doing a far greater wickedness than the very 
soldiers who were torturing him with every refinement of 
barbarian malignity. 

Hence let us learn the danger of being found in any com- 
pany in which the cause of Christ is liable to be treated with 
indignity. If we enter such company from choice, we are 
accessory to the breaking of Christ's commandments. If our 
lawful duties call us into society, where the name of Christ 
is not revered, we can never remain in it innocently, for a 
moment, unless we promptly act as disciples of Christ. When- 
ever our love to Jesus demands it, we must, without flinching 
or shamefacedness, boldly defend his cause. Whenever his 
name is reviled, we must meekly, yet boldly, rebuke the trans- 
gressor. Every where, and at all times, we are required to be 
ready to offer our testimony in favor of that Savior by whose 
blood we hope to be redeemed. To fail in the performance of 
this duty, is a grievous sin, and it always exposes us, in the end, 



280 THE FALL OF PETER. 

to inextricable embarrassment and overwhelming temptation. 
Thoughtless and irreligious men themselves look upon such a 
disciple with contempt. They quickly apprehend the incon- 
sistency of his conduct, and not unfrcquently put to him the 
taunting question, " Did I not see thee in the garden with 
him ? " 

5. Peter attempted to escape from the embarrassments of 
his situation by equivocation. " I know not," said he, " nor 
understand what thou sayest." This only in the end rendered 
his embarrassment the more inextricable. It soon reduced him 
to a situation in which he had no alternative except confession 
of Christ, under still more disadvantageous circumstances, or 
the open and violent denial of him altogether. Let this part 
of the history teach us the importance of cultivating, on all 
occasions, the habit of bold and transparent veracity. Equivo- 
cation is always a sort of moral absurdity. It is an attempt to 
make a lie answer the purpose of the truth. He who does this 
when his attachment to Christ is called in question, has already 
fallen. He denies his Lord in the sight of his all-seeing 
Judge, though his cowardice will not permit him to do it 
openly. He cannot, however, long maintain this dubious 
position. His next step in sin will be open and avowed apos- 
tasy. The Lord, whom we serve, is a jealous God. He will 
not long suffer us to wear his livery when we are in heart 
united to his enemies. The man who has gone thus far will 
soon be brought into circumstances which will openly reveal 
his guilt. 

6. Peter was rapidly led on to the commission of crimes 
in themselves most abhorrent to his nature, and crimes of 
which, at the commencement of his wrong-doing, neither he 
nor any one else would have believed him capable. He 
began by nothing more guilty than self-confidence and the 
want of watchfulness. He ended with shameless and repeated 
lying — the public denial of his Master, accompanied by the 
exhibition of frantic rage, and the uttering of oaths and blas- 
phemy in the hearing of all Jerusalem. And how is this 



THE FALL OF PETER. 281 

sudden and awful transformation to be accounted for ? My 
brethren, it may all be explained in the most simple manner 
possible. The first step in sin placed him in a position in 
which he must either humble himself in penitence, or, by a 
second step, plunge still deeper in guilt. He did not repent, 
but took that second step. Here, again, the same choice was 
offered to him, but. with increased difficulty of repentance, 
•and diminished moral power of resisting temptation. Thus, 
step after step, he plunged headlong into more and more 
atrocious guilt, until, without the power of resistance, he sur- 
rendered himself up to do the whole will of the adversary 
of souls. 

From this, let us learn the danger of little sins, and espe- 
cially of sinning against God in the temper of our hearts. 
If, in any case, we find ourselves cherishing wrong disposi- 
tions, let us learn immediately to repent of them. Still more 
imperative is this necessity, if we have gone so far astray as 
to sin against God by the actual commission of wrong. In 
such a case, we are always in imminent peril. Our only way 
of escape from impending moral danger, is immediate and 
sincere repentance. If this be neglected or delayed, we may 
be sure that more formidable temptation will soon surprise us, 
and that, while sin unrepented of palsies our conscience, we 
shall most surely be overcome. Nothing but penitence will 
either remove us beyond the reach of temptation, or with the 
temptation make a way also for our escape. 

In closing this sermon, what need have we of application ? 
If you have not already brought these truths home to your 
own consciences, all that I can say will be unavailing. Are 
there not some of us here present who are under those 
circumstances which the history of Peter illustrates ? Is 
there no one here slumbering in false security, and saying to 
himself, " Though all men should be offended, yet will I never 
be offended " ? Is there no one here who, by his boisterous 
and misplaced zeal, has brought dishonor on the cause of 
Christ ? Is there no one here who, for some time past has 
24* 



282 THE FALL OF PE.TER. 



been following Christ afar off, in darkness, hardly knowing 
whether he shall number himself among the friends or the 
enemies of his Redeemer ? Is there no one here who, 
though cherishing a hope of acceptance with Christ, is found 
habitually in company with those who reject and revile him, 
and who yet never offers a word in favor of religion? Is 
there no one here who has, by word and action, once, twice, 
thrice, brought dishonor on the profession which he has made, 
who is fast sinking under the power of temptation, and deny- 
ing the Lord that bought him ? Professor of religion, thou 
art the man to whom this sermon is addressed. 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM 



"Following the way of Balaam, the' son op Boson, who 

LOVED THE WAGES OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." 

2 Peter ii. 15. 

In the history and character of Balaam every one of us 
must frequently have felt a peculiar interest. Among the 
prophets of the Gentile world, he holds a high, if not the very 
highest position. His conceptions of the character of God 
may challenge comparison with those of the most gifted writ- 
ers of the Old Testament. The knowledge and the prac- 
tice of duty were, however, in his life, strangely contrasted. 
While his intellect dwelt in the regions of inspiration, his heart 
revelled in all the abominations of paganism. The deal- 
ings of God with him in the great act of his life, the attempt 
to curse the children of Israel, were in many respects re- 
markable. God permitted him to go with the princes of 
Moab, and yet was displeased with him for going. He uttered 
his prophecy precisely according to the divine commandment, 
and yet he is spoken of as by way of eminence a sinner. 
These seemingly inconsistent facts are at first view irrecon- 
cilable with our moral conceptions. There is a mystery en- 
veloping the whole transaction, which we do not satisfactorily 
penetrate. We are struck with the graphic power of the 
narrative ; we are deeply moved by the sublimity of Balaam's 
apprehension of the character of God ; we perceive that his 
life was a continual struggle between conscience and passion ; 
we doubt not that there is much to be learned from his histo- 

(283) 



284 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

ry ; but we do not find the practical instruction as apparent as 
we might reasonably expect. 

It may, perhaps, be profitable to examine this passage of 
Scripture history afresh. We may possibly discover the rea- 
son for the dealings of God with this Gentile prophet, and 
we may also learn from it some lessons that may tend to our 
own spiritual improvement. In fact, my brethren, the 
history of Balaam is more analogous to our own, than we 
might at first suppose. There must of course be much re- 
specting events which occurred three or four thousand years 
since, which we of the present day cannot adequately explain. 
All that we know of this personage is contained in a few 
chapters of the book of Numbers, with brief references to 
them in other passages of the Old and New Testaments. 
Enough may, however, be learned from the narrative to fur- 
nish us with the materials for profitable reflection. 

Balaam, a contemporary with Moses, was a native of Pe- 
thor, supposed to be a town of Mesopotamia, on the bank of 
the Euphrates. He had acquired a high reputation, which 
extended to the surrounding nations, as a diviner, or one en- 
dowed with the power of foreseeing the future. It was even 
supposed that the future was subject to his will, at least that 
prosperity was created by his blessing, while inevitable ruin 
waited on his curse. It is in this character that he is intro- 
duced to us in the history of the Israelites. The king of 
Moab, alarmed at the progress of the Hebrews, and con- 
vinced that they were led by supernatural power, inferred 
that they could not be resisted by merely human agency. In 
this trying emergency, he sought the aid of Balaam. He 
desired this powerful diviner to curse these hitherto invincible 
invaders, in the hope that thus he might possibly arrest their 
progress, and save his nation from inevitable destruction. 

And here, at the commencement, there is, I confess, some- 
thing apparently mysterious. Balaam seems to have been 
favored with intimate communion with the Most High, and to 
have received from him distinct and sublime revelations 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 285 

concerning the future ; and yet he died a very wicked man. 
[t may have been that his character changed, and that late in 
life he became an apostate. At the time of his first corre- 
spondence with Balak, his piety was, however, at best, but am- 
biguous, and he, before long, became an open enemy of God. 
Here, then, we behold miraculous gifts of the most extraor- 
dinary description, conferred on a man whose end was 
destruction. 

There is, clearly, in such a bestowment of supernatural 
powers, something at first view inexplicable ; and yet the 
Scriptures record many cases in no material respect unlike it. 
In the old time, God frequently chose men to be the deliver- 
ers of his people, and held with them special communication, 
who, so far as we can discover, exhibited at the best but dubi- 
ous evidences of piety. We have no reason to doubt that 
the power of working miracles was bestowed as liberally 
on Judas as upon any of the apostles, though he was a thief 
and a traitor. Our Lord teaches us that miraculous gifts may 
be bestowed when no saving grace has been imparted. " Many 
will say unto me at that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophe- 
sied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy 
name done many wonderful works ? and then will I profess 
unto them, I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work 
iniquity." And, saith the apostle, " Though I have the gift of 
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, 
and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, 
and have not charity, I am nothing." If, then, God did en- 
dow with miraculous power this wicked man, there is nothing 
in the fact at variance with the analogy of Scripture. It is 
evident that no extent of religious knowledge, no possession 
of extraordinary gifts, no degree of usefulness in the church, 
can furnish adequate evidence that our hearts are right with 
God. Without charity — love — we are but sounding brass and 
a tinkling cymbal. How often has it occurred that ministers 
of the gospel, distinguished by eminent abilities, fascinating 
eloquence, and remarkable success in the conversion of 



286 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

sinners, have shown by their subsequent lives that they them- 
selves have been fast held in the bonds of iniquity ! " Let him 
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 

One fact, however, deserves to be specially remarked, be- 
cause it does much to dissipate the mystery that seems to 
hang around this mode of God's dealing with men. Mira- 
cles are the universal credentials, by which the Most High 
authenticates a communication from himself to men. When 
he bestows this power upon an individual, he holds himself 
responsible for the truth of the message which, under such 
circumstances, shall be delivered in his name. If God per- 
mits the worker of miracles to utter nothing but the simple 
truth, then, how corrupt soever may be the heart of the 
prophet, men are in no danger of deception. So was it with 
Balaam. He had been endowed with supernatural power, 
and his utterances were to be received as the teachings of 
God. Hence the impressive and oft-repeated warning, What- 
soever I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou speak. But the 
care of God in this respect was not confined to admonitions. 
He held this wicked prophet fast in the grasp of his omnipo- 
tence, so that, much as he might desire it, he was actually un- 
able to utter a single syllable either more or less than God 
put into his mouth. It is on this fact that the explanation of 
the subsequent narrative essentially depends. 

The endowments of Balaam placed him in the rank of the 
foremost men of his time. His conceptions of the character 
of God are scarcely inferior in clearness and sublimity to 
those of the most gifted of the prophets. Nor did his 
knowledge of God pertain merely to his natural attributes. 
No one has spoken in more impressive language, or with 
more awful reverence, of the veracity, justice, and faithful- 
ness of Jehovah. His mind dwelt naturally in the region of 
the loftiest contemplations, and he spoke in strains of match- 
less eloquence, such as became the man who had heard the 
words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, 
and had seen the visions of the Almighty. 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 287 

The conscience of this prophet was as remarkable as his 
intellect. His moral preceptions were distinct and discrimi- 
nating, revealing to him clearly the moral sublimity of piety. 
His convictions of duty were almost irresistible, but they 
wrought within him nothing but anguish. He knew too well 
the character of God to dare directly to disobey him, but his 
obedience — if obedience it may be called — acknowledged no 
higher motive than the trembling fear of a slave. The clear- 
est teachings of conscience awakened within his agitated bo- 
som neither a sincere love of virtue, nor a single sentiment 
of holy obedience. He knew himself to be encircled by a 
power which it was absurd to resist, and wise to propitiate, 
and he crouched before it in hypocritical obeisance, while his 
heart was meditating falsehood and rebellion. 

The whole course of the narrative teaches us that Balaam was 
a man of ungovernable passions. In his character were unit- 
ed towering ambition, insatiate love of power, a ravenous ap- 
petite for sensual pleasure, and a rapacious greediness of gain. 
His conscience and his passions grew up side by side, each in 
turn claiming the ascendency, but neither for a while gaining 
the undisputed mastery. Under ordinary circumstances, the 
balance was so well maintained that to outward seeming his 
conduct was correct, if not exemplary. If even for a time 
he was overcome by passion, the splendor of his abilities and 
the availableness of his talents easily pleaded his excuse 
among his admiring contemporaries. And then, again, con- 
science, in turn, asserted her supremacy, and he would be 
known as the preacher of righteousness, the eulogist of virtue, 
and the stern and eloquent rebuker of every form of evil do- 
ing. But with, all this, there was no stable foundation on 
which a right moral character could be built. He had never, 
without reserve, submitted his whole heart to the teachings of 
conscience and the government of God. A being endowed 
with those mighty energies cannot long maintain a neutral po- 
sition ; he must act, and his action must tell powerfully on 
the destiny of coming generations. If these noble capacities 



288 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

are consecrated to the service of God and humanity, they will 
create a Luther, a Howard, or a Washington. If the voice 
of conscience is silenced, and these glorious endowments are 
made the venal slaves of selfishness and passion, the man is 
known as the scourge of nations, sacrificing the dearest inter- 
ests of man to the gratification of his own ungovernable lust. 

A being of so remarkable a character is always beset by 
temptations unknown to ordinary men. Such was the case 
with Balaam. The king of Moab sent to him the elders of 
his people, with the reward of divination in their hands, say- 
ing, " Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this peo- 
ple, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out 
of the land ; for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, 
and he whom thou cursest is cursed." At this time Balaam 
seems to have been ignorant of the character and destiny of 
the children of Israel. The ordinary rewards of divination 
were also as yet insufficient to arouse him to ungovernable 
cupidity. He, as was at this time his wont, retires to ask the 
Lord what he shall say to the messengers. Here he learns, 
probably for the first time, that the people are blessed of 
God, and he is peremptorily forbidden to curse them. He 
knew from the character of God that this decision was irre- 
versible. " God," said he at another time, " is not a man, that 
he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent ; 
hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and 
shall he not make it good ? " Impressed with these convictions, 
whatever may have been the secret wish of his heart, he 
obeyed the voice of God, and refused to go with the messen- 
gers. 

Before long, however, the temptation is renewed with 
greatly additional allurement. Balak sent yet again princes 
more and more honorable than they. A splendid retinue, 
clothed in oriental magnificence, stood before the humble 
dwelling of the Gentile prophet, bearing an urgent message 
from a mighty monarch. " And they came to Balaam, and 
said unto him, Thus saith Balak, the son of Zippor, Let noth- 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 289 

ing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me ; for I will 
promote thee to very great honor, and I will do unto thee 
whatsoever thou sayest unto me. Come, therefore, I pray 
thee, and curse me this people." 

Balaam requests the messengers to tarry until he had in- 
quired the will of the Lord. But what was there to ask of 
the Lord ? The Lord had already pronounced an irrevocable 
decision, and he would not reverse it. Balaam knew that it 
was impossible to obtain the divine permission to curse Israel, 
and therefore, if he wished to obey God, there was no con- 
ceivable object for going. Notwithstanding all this, he still 
desired to go, that he might feast his eyes and stimulate his 
cupidity by gazing on the rewards, which could only be ob- 
tained by disobedience to God. He had, perhaps, an idea by 
no means uncommon, that the guilt of sin is modified by the 
presence of extraordinary temptation ; he was, therefore, de- 
sirous to be tempted, so that, if he sinned, he might escape in 
some manner, at least the severity of punishment. Besides, 
he well knew the character of the ancient oracles, and prob- 
ably supposed that by uttering some equivocal prophecy, he 
might satisfy the king of Moab, and obtain the promised re- 
wards, without literally disobeying the command of God. If 
I do not mistake, these are forms of self-deception by no 
means uncommon. Men who would not resolve to disobey 
God, will frequently place themselves in circumstances where 
the temptation to disobedience is so great that they have no 
hope of resisting it, and think to escape the penalty, because 
they did not resolve to sin, but only to place themselves in the 
way of temptation. My brother, does memory recall no 
facts in thine own history which bear an analogy to this sin 
of Balaam ? Hast thou never, of thine own deliberate choice, 
gone into the very thickest of temptation, silencing the voice 
of conscience with the suggestion that thou didst not intend 
to yield to it ? And when, overcome by temptation, you 
have plunged deeply into iniquity, have you never comforted 
yourself with the hope that God would not deal with you 
25 



290 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

severely, because the temptation was so great that it was im- 
possible to resist it ? The conduct of Balaam has in every 
age found many imitators ; it is well if there be not many 
of them here in this congregation. 

In answer to his urgent request, God gave him permission 
to go to the king of Moab, forbidding him, at the same time, 
to utter any thing but the simple verity. The words in the 
narrative do not, as I suppose, express a command ; for no 
command was evidently necessary ; they denote merely a 
concession to his earnest desire. God, in this respect, dealt 
with him just as he deals with us. He allows us to go in the 
way of temptation if such be our choice. He, by conscience 
and his written word, makes known to us his will, but at the 
same time, he gives us an opportunity to disobey him. Men 
must of necessity have the power to break the commands of 
God, for otherwise there could be no probation. Every act 
of sin is an exertion of this power, for without it sin could not 
exist. So, in this case, it is as though God had said to Ba- 
laam, You know my will ; you are forbidden to curse them ; 
there can be no virtuous reason for going, and by going you 
expose yourself to temptation, where you can ask for no aid 
from my protecting grace. Go if you choose, but the conse- 
quences must rest upon your own soul. Hearer, has the voice 
of God never uttered these monitory words in thine ear ? 
Didst thou heed or disregard them ? Hast thou to record, in 
this respect, none of the experiences of Balaam ? 

Such, then, was the moral condition of Balaam, when he 
set forth on his journey to meet the king of Moab. His lust 
of power and wealth was stimulated to the utmost. He de- 
sired to find some possible means by which he might secure 
the wages of sin, and revel in the delights that could only be 
enjoyed by transgression. He was going to expose himself 
to temptation, and place himself in a position in which he 
must, almost of necessity, be overcome, and utter a lie in the 
name of the God of truth. 

Any one of us, if we could have looked into his heart, 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 291 

would doubtless have said that, in such a moral state, to resist 
temptation was almost impossible. It was precisely for this 
reason that an angel was sent to meet him in the way. God, 
by granting to him miraculous power, had rendered himself 
responsible for all that he should utter. Though Balak was 
a wicked man, yet the Lord would not suffer him to be in- 
snared by a prophet that spoke in his name. It was there- 
fore necessary to arouse the conscience of Balaam by another 
and sterner monition. The permission to go is not recalled, 
but the warning is again most solemnly repeated, " Only that 
which I say unto thee, that shalt thou speak." 

We see the condition to which he is now reduced. He 
dares not, from the fear of impending judgments, utter any 
thing which God has not commanded. He must not speak a 
syllable that is not true ; while to do this must inevitably de- 
feat the whole object of his journey. Under such circum- 
stances, what possible object could a good man have forgoing 
at all ? He must not disobey God, while without disobeying 
him, the attainment of promotion and wealth was absolutely 
hopeless. Reason and conscience must both have counselled 
him at once to return home. But the wages of unrighteous- 
ness were too tempting to be relinquished without an effort ; 
and he resolved to go, in the hope, I presume, that something 
would occur, which, in some way or other, he might turn to 
his advantage. 

The result was such as might have been expected. He 
who is allured by temptation at a distance will surely suc- 
cumb when directly within its power. Balaam, with all his 
knowledge of God, was probably tinged with the oriental su- 
perstition, that by incantations and offerings it was possible 
to subject the Creator to the will of the creature. Nor let 
this surprise us. These intense moral contrasts are among the 
most common exhibitions of our fallen nature ; and they are 
most frequently seen when a wicked heart and an enlightened 
conscience meet in the same individual. Balaam commences 
by offering sacrifices first at Kirjath Uzzoth. From thence 



292 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

he removes to the high places of Baal, as though he would 
enlist an idol god on his side, in this controversy with Jehovah. 
Here he builds seven altars, and offers a sacrifice upon each 
of them. But God commands him to bless Israel, and he 
dares not, however unwillingly, refuse to deliver the message 
put into his mouth. Next he removes to Pisgah, to the field 
of Zophim, and here again builds seven altars, and offers a 
bull and a ram upon every altar. Again the blessing of Israel 
is put into his mouth, and he is compelled to utter it. Not 
yet satisfied, he selects another more elevated position, 
and ascends to the top of Peor, as it looketh to Jeshimon ; and 
here again he offers his accustomed sacrifice. This also 
proving unavailing, he went not, as at other times, to seek for 
enchantments, but set his face towards the wilderness. All 
these sacrifices, you see, were not offerings to God, but only 
the means used in unholy divination. Neither thus could he 
accomplish his purpose. He could by no means oblige God 
to permit him to curse the people, but was forced, in a most 
remarkable manner, to predict their future and unexampled- 
prosperity. 

Here let us pause for a moment, and reflect upon the moral 
condition of this man during these memorable transactions. 
He had been blessed with a knowledge of God such as had 
been granted to but few of his contemporaries. He knew 
that the Israelites were the people of God acting under his 
immediate supervision, while the Moabites were the enemies 
of God, idolaters of the basest type, cruel, sensual, and vin- 
dictive. Knowing all this, it was his earnest desire to destroy 
the children of God, and aid in the triumph of their enemies. 
By every device in his power, by sacrifices without number, 
and by every art of divination, he sought, with perseverance 
worthy of a better cause, to accomplish his object. And all 
this was done for the infamous purpose of rising to power 
and revelling in wealth. Gladly would he have deluded Ba- 
lak by a lie, or destroyed the Israelites by a curse ; but his 
lips were sealed to the utterance of every thing but the truth. 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 293 

He obeyed the letter of the command simply because he 
could not help it ; but his heart revolted from the words which 
he uttered. At the very moment when he was blessing the 
children of Israel, he longed to take part with their enemies, 
and wage war against the Almighty himself. 

Thus, though in outward act Balaam formally obeyed 
the commandment, his heart was the seat of ungovernable 
ambition and inextinguishable love of gain. He would have 
sinned in act if he dared, but he durst not, and thus lost the 
poor rewards for which he was bartering his soul. His obe- 
dience was destitute of virtue, and hence he lost the peace of 
mind and self-sustaining energy of piety. This state of mind, 
in which external service is combined with determined love 
of sin, cannot long continue. The mind ere long yields itself 
to the dominion of its chief affection. Thus Balaam, finding 
even external obedience incompatible with the gratification of 
his passions, resolved to abandon it altogether. The charac- 
ter of a prophet failing to serve his purposes, he seems to 
have laid it aside, and the true disposition of his heart hence- 
forth acted without control. He openly united with the 
Moabites in their attempt to destroy the people of God. Here 
his previous knowledge of religion gave him great advantage. 
He knew that it was impossible to compass the ruin of the 
Israelites, so long as they retained the favor of God. The 
only course that remained was, by alluring them into sin, to 
expose them to the judgments of Jehovah. If by their wick- 
edness God should be made their enemy, they would be as 
easily overcome as any other people. By his advice, there- 
fore, the Moabites cast off the appearance of hostility, and, 
under the guise of friendship, spread before the people the 
allurements of idolatry and the seductions of lust. This 
stratagem succeeded when hecatombs of offerings had failed. 
The Hebrews united in sacrifice to the- gods of Moab, Israel 
joined himself to Baal Peor, and the encampment became a 
scene of universal and unblushing licentiousness. As Balaam 
had anticipated, the anger of the Lord was kindled against 
25* 



294 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

Israel ; a plague broke out in the camp, and twenty-four 
thousand of the people died. Thus, what could not be ef- 
fected by open hostility, was accomplished by the blandish- 
ments of sin. The wicked prophet seemed to have triumphed, 
and the nation, for their sins, to have been deserted of God. 

But God is not slack concerning his promises, as some men 
count slackness. He remembered his covenant with Abra- 
ham ; and had he spoken, and should he not make it good ? 
Though he punishes his people for their sins, his faithfulness 
endures to a thousand generations. By fearful judgments he 
recalled the Hebrews to their allegiance, and broke up their 
alliance with idolatry. War was again proclaimed between 
his friends and his enemies. There was now no ambiguity in 
the position of Balaam. His choice was irrevocably made. 
He joined the Moabites with his whole heart in their attack 
upon the Israelites, and, in the battle that ensued, was found 
among the slain. His name has been handed down to suc- 
ceeding generations to designate a man of preeminent abil- 
ity, destitute of principle, given over of God to work all man- 
ner of wickedness with greediness. 

How different might have been the result, had Balaam con- 
secrated his distinguished talents to the cause of truth, of con- 
science, and of God ! Resisting the allurements of appetite, 
mortifying the lust of power, subduing the greed of wealth, 
and allying himself to the cause of God, he might have shone 
resplendent in that constellation of patriarchs and prophets 
of whom the world was not worthy. Had he chosen to suffer 
affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleas- 
ures of sin for a season, he might with Moses have become 
a leader of the Israelites, with Joshua entered the promised 
land, and his name might have come down to us laden with 
the benedictions of ages. Indeed, of the distinguished men 
of antiquity, I know of none whose moral trials were so anal- 
ogous, and whose end was so dissimilar, as those of Moses 
and Balaam. Both of them took rank among the most gifted 
of their race. Both were in a remarkable degree taught by 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 295 

the Spirit of God. To both were the allurements of the pres- 
ent world presented in the largest measure. Both were equal- 
ly free to choose between virtue and vice, duty and pleasure, 
time and eternity. The one resigned without a murmur the 
luxuries of wealth and the companionship of princes, to unite 
himself with the enslaved people of God ; and he received a 
hundred fold in this present life. God communed with him 
as a friend ; he became the founder of the only people that 
has come down to us, through the wrecks of time, praising 
Jehovah in the identical words that were used by their fathers 
four thousand years ago ; and his name is enrolled high on the 
list of those who have conferred blessings on humanity. The 
other meanly shrunk back from the trials of virtue ; for a 
while he hesitated, then yielded to the seductions of passion, 
became the associate of those whom God had abandoned, and 
perished ignominiously, a scorn and a by-word to all coming 
time. " The name of the wicked shall rot, but the righteous 
shall be held in everlasting remembrance.'" 

Of the many moral lessons which this narrative suggests, 
I will select only a few. 

Some of you, in the vigor of youth, are naturally aspiring 
after eminence in the occupation which you have chosen. 
This is well ; for why should we not wish to accomplish a noble 
destiny ? He is a weak and a base man who wraps his tal- 
ent in a napkin, and buries it in the earth. Let this discourse 
remind us that there are two paths by which men may seek for 
distinction. In the one, to the very best of our ability, in 
spite of every obstacle, we honestly do our duty, leaving 
the result to God, and receiving thankfully whatever reward 
he shall graciously bestow. In the other, without any settled 
principle, we grasp at the prize, indifferent to the means by 
which our end may be attained. The latter was the choice 
of Balaam. It was not successful, and it never will be, for it 
ignores the fact that omniscience, omnipotence, and holiness 
govern the world. The end is rarely attained, and if attained, 



296 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

the soul is corrupted by the effort, and success becomes as 
the apples of Sodom and the grapes of Gomorrah. On the 
other hand, the faithful, disinterested doing of duty has ever 
been found the most direct road to eminence. In proof of 
this, I might summon the testimony of all history ; but why 
should I do this, so long as on the annals of our country are 
inscribed the names of George Washington and Benedict 
Arnold ? 

Let us now apply this lesson more directly to our relations 
to God. 

Among those who have been educated in a Christian land, 
and have enjoyed the teachings of the fireside and the sanctu- 
ary, there are many who are, at this moment, undergoing es- 
sentially the same trial as Balaam. There are, I doubt not, 
many in this assembly, who believe every truth revealed in 
the Bible, whose conscience is yet susceptible, who are per- 
fectly aware of the consequences of a life of impenitence, in 
whom, nevertheless, the love of wealth, or pleasure, or social 
position, is uncontrollable. They cannot be persuaded to 
yield their affections to God, and yet they dare not openly 
and contumaciously disobey him. Whenever they refrain 
from doing what he has forbidden, they act only from fear. 
It is a service into which filial love never enters. They even 
listen gladly to any reasoning which teaches that the re- 
straints of the law of God may be cast off with impunity. 
But this ambiguous moral condition cannot long continue. Its 
natural tendency is to hardness of heart and stupidity of con- 
science. If it does not terminate in sincere submission to 
God, the Holy Spirit will withdraw and leave us to our own 
choices. A man in this condition has not a moment to lose. 
What he does must be done quickly. If he delay until the 
power of the passions is increased, and the power of con- 
science is diminished, what hope can he have of salvation ? 
If now the love of pleasure be strong enough to resist 
successfully all moral progress, when it increases to a 
flood, what shall prevent him from being carried down 
headlong ? 



CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 297 

Or, again, we frequently find men who have passed this 
dubious position, and whose power of resistance to evil is al- 
ready beginning to yield. The man has begun to inquire 
how near he may approach to wrong without being guilty of 
wrong doing. He is ever pressing upon the extreme limit of 
right, that he may look over it, and gaze upon the tempta- 
tions beyond. You will see him at questionable places of 
amusement, in the company of the wicked, if thus he can 
gratify a desire or subserve a purpose. In his intercourse 
with others, he will readily find some end that shall sanctify 
the means, until at last neither end nor means is capable of 
sanctification. The man is ever running after temptation, 
fooling himself with the belief that he is in no danger, and 
that there is no harm in taking fire into our bosom if our 
clothes are not burned. Now, what is all this but acting over 
again the scenes of the life of Balaam ? What is it but going 
to Balak to feast our eyes upon the wealth, and gloat upon 
the delights which we may obtain by sinning against God ? 
He who of his own choice places himself in the power of 
temptation, secretly wishes that he may be overcome. He 
who is allured towards forbidden pleasure at a distance, can- 
not surely hope to deny himself when it stands before him 
in all the power of a present and fascinating reality. If the 
unseen attraction of the whirlpool turns aside the mariner 
from his course, how shall he resist its power, when he is al- 
ready ingulfed in its vortex ? 

And let this example teach us that we can never walk se- 
curely unless we walk uprightly. We can never escape the 
moral perils that beset us, except by yielding prompt obedi- 
ence to the monitions of conscience. Formal service, from 
which the heart is excluded, will never confirm us in virtue. 
God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him 
in spirit and in truth. No man ever obtained the rewards of 
piety without being really pious. The word of God is quick 
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to 
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and 



298 CHARACTER OF BALAAM. 

marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the 
heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in 
his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of 
him with whom we have to do. Keep, therefore, thy heart 
with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. 



VERACITY. 



"For, he that will love life, and see good days, let him 
refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak 

NO GUILE." 

1 Peter iii. 10. 

One of the attributes by which the Most High specially de- 
sires himself to be known by his intelligent universe, is, abso- 
lute and unchanging veracity. Whatever he reveals to us, 
he would have us receive as the pure and simple verity. 
Whatever he has promised, though heaven and earth should 
pass away, he will assuredly perform. Whatever he has 
threatened, he will execute to the very letter, and at the very 
moment which he has fixed upon for judgment. It is in lan- 
guage such as this that he has revealed himself to us : " He 
is Ihe rock, his way is perfect ; for all his ways are judg- 
ment." " A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and 
right is he." " The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for- 
ever ; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous alto- 
gether." " The word of the Lord is right, and all his works 
are done in truth." " Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled 
in the heavens, thy faithfulness is unto all generations." "Jus- 
tice and judgment are the habitation of his throne ; mercy 
and truth go before his face." And one of the songs of the 
redeemed in the heavenly Jerusalem is, " Just and true are 
thy ways, thou King of saints." 

It is in virtue of this attribute, to the existence of which the 
history of the universe, from the outgoings of eternity, has 
borne witness, that God claims of his creatures implicit and 

(299) 



300 VERACITY. 

unquestioning belief. " Hath he said, and will he not do it ? 
hath he spoken, and will he not make it good ? " To give no 
credence to his declarations, or place no reliance upon his 
promises, he esteems one of the most insulting forms of hu- 
man wickedness. An apostle has said, " He that believeth not 
God hath made him a liar ; " and this is no poetic exaggera- 
tion — it is nothing but the simple verity. We cannot disbe- 
lieve what God has spoken, unless we suppose that he has 
promised what he did not intend to perform ; that is, that he 
is capable of falsehood. And of this defiant iniquity the 
whole race of man has, ever since the fall, been preeminently 
guilty. Neither the promises nor the threatenings of God 
enter any more into the practical motives of the multitude of 
men, than the laws of Menu, or the sayings of Confucius. 
Is it wonderful, then, that the Most High has a controversy 
with our race ? Must he not, at some time, vindicate his ve- 
racity, and teach an assembled universe, that though heaven 
and earth may pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass 
from the law until all be fulfilled ? 

In this attribute of inviolable truth, God commands us to be 
imitators of hhrh He wills us never to utter any thing but 
the exact verity. In the commandment given to our race by 
Moses it is written, " Thou shalt not bear false witness." In 
the text, as in other places, he has promised his special favor 
to those that speak no guile. He has taught us that " all liars 
shall have their portion in the lake which burnetii with fire, 
which is the second death." Our Lord himself has declared 
that liars are the children of the devil ; for he is a liar, and 
the father of lies. 

It is manifest that these teachings have not been with- 
out effect, wherever the Bible has been openly and plainly 
spread before the people. Wherever the word of God is 
freely circulated, and generally read, a barefaced and habit- 
ual liar is rarely to be met with among men who lay any 
claim to the respect of their fellow-citizens. In this country, 
for instance, we do not often find a man who will deliberately 



VERACITY. 301 

and daily utter what he knows to be false, or make a promise, 
which he feels himself under no obligation to perform. He who 
thus disgraces himself is at once banished from the society 
of honorable men ; he is branded as a knave ; and we pay 
no regard to his word, unless it be accompanied by a 
bond which he must recognize at the bar of a judicial tri- 
bunal. 

While, however, such cases are rare, I fear that indirect, 
and what are termed minor variations from strict veracity, 
are by no means uncommon. I cannot but believe that one 
of the causes of this moral dereliction is to be found in the 
fact that men do not adequately understand the requirements 
of the law under which -they are created. They form the 
habit of looseness of statement and thoughtlessness of 
engagements, and thus, without consciousness of sin, violate 
the plain principles of the law of God. Men professing god- 
liness are liable to a similar peril. To do wrong, with even 
imperfect knowledge, grieves the Spirit, paralyzes our piety, 
and perils our souls. It may therefore be proper to devote 
the time allotted to this service to a brief consideration of this 
subject. I speak to you all, my brethren, but especially to 
the young of this congregation. I would have you, my young 
friends, know the moral law under which you live, and by 
which you must be judged, that I may warn you of some of 
the dangers by which you are environed. 

The law of absolute veracity would require that we should 
utter nothing but the perfect verity. We are, however, lim- 
ited in comprehension, and imperfect in knowledge. We 
know but in part, and hence are liable to mislead when we 
have no intention to deceive. To this our imperfection the 
law of God has respect, and it requires of us no more than 
our nature can perform. It is supposed that we have a belief 
of what is the truth concerning an event. We are required, 
if we speak, to utter that belief precisely as it lies in our 
minds, without exaggeration, disguise, or subterfuge. We 
profess, when we speak, to convey to another the concep- 
26 



302 VERACITY. 

tion which exists within us ; if we convey to him some 
other conception, we violate the law of veracity and disobey 
the command of God. 

I have said it is supposed that we have a belief of what is 
the truth concerning any event. I here use the word belief 
in its strict acceptation, meaning by it a conviction founded 
on sufficient evidence. Hearsays, guesses, and suppositions 
are not such evidence. He who asserts any thing as a fact 
is responsible for the truth of his assertion, and is under obli- 
gation to take sufficient means to assure himself that the 
ground of his belief is legitimate. To assert as the truth 
what we do not know to be true, justly exposes us to the 
charge of falsehood. 

But some one may ask, Are we obliged to tell every one 
whom we meet all that we know and all that we are thinking 
about ? Do we violate the law of veracity because we do not 
make a confidant of every companion, or reveal all our thoughts, 
even to our most intimate friends ? I reply, that what I have 
said has no reference whatever to any of these questions. 1 
have not uttered a word concerning the law of not saying ; 
I have only spoken about the law of saying. I have merely set 
before you the rule which should govern us when it is our duty 
to speak. I have not considered the question, When shall we 
speak, and when shall we be silent ? This latter may be de- 
cided by the principles of duty or by the simple dictates of 
practical wisdom ; but in neither case has it any thing to do 
with the law of veracity. We may ask ourselves, and it would 
be well if we asked ourselves much oftener, whether it is or 
is not our duty to speak. If we decide, either from moral or 
prudential reasons, that it is our duty to be silent, it is clear 
that the law of veracity has no command to utter. If we, on 
the other hand, decide that it is our duty to speak, then the 
law pronounces its decision, and forbids us to speak any thing 
but the truth. 

But the inquiry may arise, Are we always obliged, when we 
speak, to speak the whole truth ? Are we guilty of falsehood 



VERACITY. 303 

when we declare what is true as far as we go, but keep back 
a part which we might communicate if we chose ? I reply, 
If we intend to convey the impression that what we say is the 
whole truth, when we know that it is only a part, we violate the 
law of veracity. If we have no such intention, but merely 
relate the fact as a fact, without any design to create any 
other impression, then we are innocent. If I mention to 
another that I walked half a mile, I violate no law of veracity 
by not telling him the name of every man whom I met, or 
the number of carriages that passed me on the road. If, 
however, I professed to give him a minute account of all that 
I saw, or if, in any manner, I intended to convey the impres- 
sion that I saw no one, I spoke falsely. A man may thus 
speak what is strictly true, and yet be guilty of uttering an 
untruth. He tells what is true, but tells it with the intention 
of creating a false impression ; that is, he wilfully deceives ; 
and wilful deceit is falsehood. 

The same law applies to promises. A promise is the ex- 
pression of our intention to do something, with the design of 
creating in another the expectation that it will be done. Sim- 
ply to express an intention is not to make a promise. If, in 
the course of ordinary conversation, I happen to mention my 
purpose to leave town to-morrow, this is not a promise, for I 
did not intend to create an expectation. If I not only say 
that I am going, but enter into an engagement with another to 
accompany him, this constitutes a promise. We are morally 
bound to fulfil the expectation which we have voluntarily cre- 
ated. I say which we have voluntarily created, for a man 
may expect what we never intended to promise. For his 
erroneous or injurious interpretations we are not held answer- 
able. We are accountable, not for the expectation which he 
may have formed, but for that which we ourselves voluntarily 
created. 

In such cases as these, it is evident that our intentions may 
easily be misunderstood, and we ourselves also tempted to sin. 
On the one hand, men are prone to mistake a conditional for 



304 VERACITY. 

an unconditional engagement, and thus hold us to the per- 
formance of what we never intended to promise ; and, on the 
other hand, we are too often disposed to consider a slight 
change of circumstances a sufficient reason for the violation 
of an agreement. The moral question in such a case is, I sup- 
pose, simply this : when the engagement was made, would the 
present condition of things have been considered by both 
parties a valid reason for terminating it? If such be the fact, 
it terminates, of course. But, in deciding such a case, we 
are bound to act on the principles of high disinterestedness, 
and in the fear of God. If a moral obligation exists, it must 
be fulfilled. If a doubt remains, we must decide against our- 
selves, or leave the question to the decision of others. In no 
other manner can we retain our love of veracity unimpaired. 
By the habit of deciding doubtful cases in our own favor, self- 
ishness gains the victory over our love of truth, and, before 
we are aware of it, we become reckless of our obligations 
and regardless of the sanctity of our word. 

And here, again, it may be asked, — for questions on this 
subject seem to be almost innumerable, — Are we bound to fulfil 
to the letter every promise which we make, even when it is 
without any condition ? I would not say even so much as this. 
The very object for which the promise was made may have 
become unattainable, and of course the whole engagement 
falls to the ground. I promise to walk with a friend at a cer- 
tain hour for the sake of healthful exercise. In the mean 
time a storm has arisen, and to fulfil the promise would defeat 
the very object for which it was made. Here, of course, 
there can be no obligation. But, if I break such an engage- 
ment from idleness, or because I prefer at the moment to 
read some book which happens to interest me, I am guilty. 
It is of no avail to say my friend will excuse it : this may be, 
but it alters not the fact that I have trifled with my conscience, 
degraded my moral nature, and sinned against God. 

All this should plainly teach us several quite important les- 
sons. In the first place y a promise should always, if possible, 



VERACITY. 3Q5 

be definite, and distinctly understood by both parties. Again, if 
there be from necessity a contingency, this contingency should 
be as accurately defined as the promise itself. And, lastly, 
when we are in doubt respecting the validity of any obliga- 
tion, — that is, when there is a conflict in our minds between the 
claims of veracity and those of interest and convenience, — it 
is always safe to decide in favor of veracity. This may, it is 
true, cost us trouble, and sometimes apparently useless trou- 
ble, but it will confirm our virtue and teach us practical wis- 
dom. We shall love truth the better for every sacrifice we 
make for it ; our moral principles are strengthened by every 
act of submission to them ; and the inconvenience arising 
from thoughtless engagements will render us more careful for 
the future. He who holds himself under moral obligation to 
do as he has said, will be careful of his words, and will excite 
no expectation which he is not able to satisfy. 

And now, my brethren, if we should review these brief 
suggestions, we might sum up their substance in a very few 
words. We see that the law of veracity has no direction to 
give as to the question when we shall speak, and when we 
shall be silent. It simply teaches us our duty in the act of 
speaking, and then it requires that the thought which we em- 
body in words shall be precisely the thought which lies in 
our own minds. If it be a fact, we must state it as a fact ; if 
an opinion, as an opinion ; and, in either case, we must do it 
without exaggeration or diminution. The same rule applies 
to promises. We must make known to another the intention 
as it actually exists, and the expectation which we thus volun- 
tarily excite we are under moral obligation to satisfy, unless 
subsequent events shall render the performance impossible, or, 
in the judgment of disinterested men, would justly nullify the 
agreement. The law thus understood applies to all our con- 
duct, at home or abroad, in the retirement of the family or 
in the publicity of the market place, in the workshop and be- 
hind the counter, in the gayety of the social circle and in the 
private dealing of every man with his neighbor. - God knows 
26* 



306 VERACITY. 

what we think, and he hears what we say, and he observes 
the minutest discrepancy between the one and the other. It 
surely then becomes us ever to speak as seeing Him who is 
invisible. 

Such, then, is the law of God, revealed to us in the Scrip- 
tures. But, let us ask, Is this law obeyed ? Do men recog- 
nize the obligations of veracity, and do they speak as in the 
presence of the God of truth ? Let us glance at a few of the 
occasions which give rise to the violation of the precept, and 
we shall see how easily men are seduced into disobedience to 
the law of God. 

The inordinate love of wealth gives occasion to frequent 
violations of the plainest precepts of veracity. When large 
profits can be secured by falsehood, I am told that, in our 
large commercial centres, lying and even false swearing are 
matters of daily occurrence. A custom-house oath has, in 
fact, come to designate words which impose no manner of 
obligation. Men will swear to false invoices, knowing them 
to be false ; nay, they will direct two different invoices to be 
made out, the one by which they sell, and the other to which 
ihey swear. If they fear to swear themselves, a clerk must 
do it for them, or they will employ some poor sinner, for a 
consideration, to do such swearing whenever it shall be found 
convenient. If I have stated this too strongly, I shall sin- 
cerely regret it ; but I only affirm what, on competent author- 
ity, has frequently been stated to me. The common adulter- 
ation of articles of traffic comes under the same condemnation. 
Men take every means to give to a worthless compound the 
appearance of a genuine product, and then solemnly declare 
it to be what they know that it is not. 

Or we may come to facts which transpire every day, in every 
city and village in our land. The seller represents his goods 
as of the very best quality, and offers them to the buyer at a 
price which he declares to be scarcely above cost ; then he 
will sell them at cost ; and, at last, will dispose of them to this 
particular friend at a ruinous sacrifice. The buyer, on the 



VERACITY. 307 

other hand, considers the quality inferior, the price unreason- 
able, and, at most, is willing to purchase only on a very long 
credit. The bargain is at length concluded, the goods are 
delivered, and the parties separate. All at once the language 
of these men is suddenly transformed. The seller is rejoicing 
that he has disposed of his merchandise at so handsome an 
advance, the buyer that he has received so good an article 
at so low a price. Now, it is apparent that the mere change 
of hands has neither affected the quality of the goods, nor the 
opinions of the parties concerning them. Neither of these 
men spoke as he thought, and the Searcher of hearts marked 
the violation of his law in every word that was uttered. The 
love of a little paltry gain overcame the love of truth, and 
was motive strong enough to set at nought the authority 
of God. 

Idle curiosity gives occasion to a large amount of false 
speaking. Many persons have an insatiable desire to know 
all the affairs of their neighbors, their likes and dislikes, their 
domestic arrangements, their opinions on all matters and of 
all persons, and thus to worm themselves into the most secret 
recesses of their confidence. This is commonly done from 
no malicious design, — for such persons are commonly good 
natured, — but from mere childish inquisitiveness. To accom- 
plish our purpose, however, not a little management is neces- 
sary, and we are obliged to pretend to know already much of 
which we are entirely ignorant. This is the first departure 
from truth. We obtained our knowledge under the injunction 
of secrecy. But a secret which does not belong to us is not 
easily kept, for this intense desire to know is always accom- 
panied by an equally intense desire to tell. We must reveal 
it to our intimate friends ; and here is departure from truth the 
second. Or, again, we may meet with another person as in- 
quisitive as ourselves, in whom we dare not confide, and 
whose prying curiosity we can elude in no other way than by 
falsehood or prevarication ; here is departure the third. Thus 
the habit grows upon us. Idle curiosity leads to the first 



308 VERACITY. 

falsehood, and the first falsehood creates the temptation to all 
that follow in its train. I will not here speak of the infinite 
mischief that is done by this prying inquisitiveness ; I here 
only refer to its effect on our moral character. It affords a 
sad illustration of the fact that the most contemptible motive 
is frequently powerful enough successfully to tempt us to vio- 
late the commands of God. 

Another frequent occasion for falsehood is found in the 
fear of speaking or acting at variance with received conven- 
tionalities. We express joy when we feel none. We coun- 
terfeit sadness.when we suffer no sorrow. We use the expres- 
sions that are in vogue without any regard to the truthfulness 
of their application, but merely because we hear them used 
by others. The commonest things, the most unimportant 
events, are splendid, magnificent, glorious, or abominable, 
shocking, horrid, detestable. We do not mean what we say : 
there is no emotion within us corresponding to such exagger- 
ated expressions. Why, then, should we use them ? The 
same conventionality assures us that it is right and proper to es- 
cape a trifling inconvenience by telling a lie, or obliging others 
to tell it for us, and that to say what is false ceases to be a lie, if 
it be told very frequently, and by a great number of persons. 
It is said that every one understands us when we direct another 
person to say we are not at home when we are at home. If 
a servant or a child lies to us, we are indignant, and mourn 
over the mendacity which is every where so prevalent. But 
where, I pray you, is the moral difference between lying for 
us, and lying to us r Has God ever made any such distinction ? 
It is in vain to say that here no temptation to lie is created, 
because every one understands it. Many a family has be- 
come habitual liars by the daily repetition of these conven- 
tional falsehoods. Children know that such language is false, 
and they must have more than usual virtue if they are not 
fatally corrupted. A friend of mine once called on a gentle- 
man with whom he had a positive appointment, and was met 
at the door by his son, who told him that his father was not 



VERACITY. 309 

at home. My friend replied that there must be some 
mistake ; for they had agreed to meet, at this very hour. 
" No," replied the son, " he is not at home ; he went out a few 
minutes since." He, of course, retired, but had scarcely left 
the house when the gentleman himself appeared at the door, 
inviting him in, and saying, " I had no idea that it was you." 
As he entered, the son, ashamed and confounded, turned to 
his father with these words : " Father, I will never tell another 
tie for you as long as I live." Had that son grown up to be 
a liar and a knave, at whose hands would the ruin of his soul 
have been justly required ? 

But I will pursue these illustrations no farther. I have said 
enough to draw your attention to the subject, and you your- 
selves can easily multiply instances for yourselves, and im- 
press the truth upon your own hearts much more forcibly than 
another can do it for you. 

But some one will say, To do as you advise, and avoid 
the errors against which you have cautioned us, would require 
great care and intense watchfulness in all our conversation. 
We should be obliged to think before we speak, abandon 
many of the ordinary topics of discourse, and be content to 
improve men rather than amuse them. Be it so. In this we 
shall only follow the examples of better and wiser men. It 
was the prayer of David, " Set a watch, O Lord, over my 
mouth ; keep the door of my lips." He found the advan- 
tage of such a prayer when he said^ " By the word of my 
lips have I kept myself from the paths of the destroyer. I 
said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my 
tongue. I have set the Lord always before me, that I sin not 
against him." " If a man," said the apostle James, " offend 
not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bri- 
dle the whole body. Who is a wise man, and endowed with 
knowledge among you, let him show forth, out of a good con- 
versation, his works with meekness and wisdom." You see, 
then, that it has been the earnest prayer of good men that they 
might be specially aided in this respect, for they were con- 



310 VERACITY. 

vinced that there could be no attainments in holiness while 
the tongue was a thoughtless and ungoverned instrument of 
duplicity or falsehood. Can we expect to please God, or do good 
to man, unless we are in the exercise of the same prayerful 
caution ? But let us bring the subject to a practical test — let 
us review, for a moment, our past lives. With what a mul- 
titude of immortal souls has every one of us held conver- 
sation ! Every one of these might have been made better by 
our words, and every one has been made either the better 01* 
the worse by our intercourse. What has been the result ? To 
how many of this multitude can we point as the evidences that 
we really have consecrated our conversation to the Savior, and 
that our example has ever pronioted the love of truth, and piety, 
and charity ? Had we been more careful of our words, and 
ever spoken as seeing Him that is invisible, how rapid would 
have been our progress in piety, and what blessings should 
we have scattered along our pathway through life ! Do you 
not wish, then, that you had in the past set a guard over your 
lips ? and this you could never have done but by cultivating 
this very truthfulness which I here recommend. But it is 
evidently our duty to do in the future what we wish we had 
done in the past. Let us then begin this reformation at once. 

But you will say, To obey these precepts with strictness, 
to speak nothing but the simple verity, and utter only what 
God will approve, would render us very peculiar. Our max- 
ims of business must be greatly changed, and in our inter- 
course with the world we must bid adieu to many of the amen- 
ities and courtesies of society. 

That the principles of religion carried into any of the 
departments of life would render us peculiar I will not deny. 
It belongs to the necessity of the case, for religion is designed 
to make men better ; and if we would make them better, our 
manner of life must, of course, be in advance of theirs. The 
world lieth in wickedness, and how can a child of God live in 
it, and not be peculiar ? Wicked men imitate the example of 
the father of lies ; and can we be imitators of the God of truth 



VERACITY. 311 

without being peculiar ? Was there ever a being on earth so 
peculiar as Jesus of Nazareth, the Author and Finisher of our 
faith ? It was to his peculiarity in this very respect that he ap- 
pealed as the evidence of the divinity of his mission. " Which 
of you," said he, " convinceth me of sin ? [he referred to the 
sin of falsehood ;] and if I speak the truth, why do ye not 
believe me ? " Ought not the followers of such a Savior to be 
exemplary in all things, and, above all, in their conversation ? 
Unless the teachings of Christ exert their effect on our inter- 
course with our fellow-men, what do we more than others ? and 
how shall the world be the better or the wiser for our hav- 
ing lived in it ? 

But, you will say, this is a lesson most difficult to be 
learned. It requires that we should be always on our guard, 
watching over ourselves with a vigilance such as we had 
never imagined. We speak before we think ; we become in- 
terested in conversation, and forget ourselves ; we naturally 
follow the course of thought of those that are about us, and, 
before we are aware, commit sin with our tongue. How shall 
we gain the victory over ourselves ? how shall we ever make 
our conversation a means of good to others, and so speak as 
ever to please a God of truth ? To such an inquirer I would 
reply, The gospel of Christ has provided for us all needful 
assistance. The cure must be performed in thy inmost spirit, 
and the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth us from all sin — the sins of the inmost soul, 
the moral imperfections that have grown up within us, as 
though they were a part of our original nature. The word 
of God is quick and powerful, piercing to the dividing asun- 
der of the soul and the spirit. If, then, you find yourself 
prone to thoughtlessness in speech ; if in conversation and in 
promises you are liable, even in little things, to forget your 
obligations to God ; if the fear of man or the love of gain 
ever seduce you to utter what the law of veracity condemns ; 
and, especially, if any or all of this has grown into a habit 
from which your own power cannot deliver you, — come to 



312 VERACITY. 

that Fountain that cleanseth from all iniquity. Confess your sin 
before God, and look to him for pardon through the blood of 
the atonement. Resolve in his strength that you will never 
yield, but that you will contend against this sin that dwelleth 
in you, until you have trampled it under your feet. Implore 
of God the aid of his Spirit. Beseech him to make you 
thoughtful, self-possessed, vigilant, and endow you with pres- 
ence of mind in the moment of the most subtile temptation. 
Ask of him all this with a simple and earnest heart, and he 
will do it all for you. There is balm in Gilead, there is a 
Physician there, and you shall certainly be healed. Day by 
day you will gain victory. Every failure will increase your 
sensibility to every deviation from right, and will also render 
it more odious in your eyes. Strengthened with might by 
his Spirit in the inner man, 3-ou will grow stronger and 
stronger, until by divine grace you have triumphed over this 
form of evil, and rejoice in the indwelling of his Holy Spirit. 
" Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, 
for they shall be filled." 

And while you arc engaged in these moral conflicts with 
the sin that easily besets you, remember the innumerable 
cloud of witnesses who have, through grace, gained the victory 
over the very same enemies. Think of the Savior who 
has met and vanquished all your spiritual foes, and who 
looks upon you with approving love, as he sees you following 
in his footsteps. Think of that crown that shall be bestowed 
on every one that overcometh, and which shall be made 
brighter and brighter by victory over every sin. Think of 
this immortal soul, on which a new lineament of the image 
of Christ is engraved by every triumph over inbred corrup- 
tion. Think of all this, and run with patience the race set 
before you, looking unto Jesus the Author and the Finisher 
of your faith. So run that ye may obtain. 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



" Neither tray I for these alone, but for them also that shall 

BELIEVE OX ME THROUGH THEIR WORD ; THAT THEY ALL MAY BE OXE, 

as thou, Father, art in me axd I ix thee, that they also may 

BE OXE IX US, THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEA'E THAT THOU HAST 
SEXT ME." 

John xvii. 20, 21. 

These words form a portion of that memorable prayer 
offered up by our Lord in the company of his disciples, on 
the night that preceded his crucifixion. They were uttered 
just before he proceeded to the garden of Gethsemane, 
whilst his mind was deeply impressed with the thought that 
before another sun should set, his work on earth would be 
finished, and the sacrifice for our sins offered up. The senti- 
ments of the text, then, come to us clothed with all the author- 
ity of the last message from a dying Friend. They express 
to us the last wish of the Redeemer, and teach us the nature 
of those blessings w r hich, at that solemn hour, he most earn- 
estly craved in behalf of those for whom he was about to die. 
There must be in these words, then, something specially wor- 
thy of our prayerful attention. Let us endeavor to ascertain 
their meaning, and draw from it such lessons of instruction 
as are most appropriate to our present condition. 

Let us inquire, in the first place, For whom was this prayer 
offered ? 

And here, at the commencement, we are met by the fact 
that this prayer of our Lord is remarkable for one striking 
peculiarity. Its object is definite and exclusive. The pro- 
27 



314 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



pitiatory work of Christ was wrought for the whole world, for 
the whole race of Adam. This prayer, on the contrary, was 
offered for only a part of that race. He himself declares, 
" I pray for them ; I pray not for the world, but for them that 
thou hast given me out of the world." At first, the Redeemer 
seems to have prayed for the apostles who immediately sur- 
rounded him, or, at most, for those who had, up to that time, 
become his disciples. " Those whom thou hast given me I 
have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition." 
As, however, he proceeds, his supplications become more 
general, until he includes within the scope of his intercession, 
not only the apostles, but all those who, through their word, 
should believe on him in all coming time. 

We perceive, then, that while our Lord excludes the world 
from any interest in this particular prayer, he includes, within 
the number of those for whom he supplicates, certain persons 
taken out of the world. These two classes of mankind are 
placed in distinct opposition to each other. Those denomi- 
nated the world, are not those for whom he prays. Those for 
whom he prays are not of the world. The peculiarity of 
character which designates this latter class of persons, and 
which distinguishes them from the world, is frequently alluded 
to in this last discourse of our Lord, in terms that cannot be 
misunderstood. They are those for whom a mansion is pre- 
pared in heaven ; with whom the Comforter shall abide for- 
ever ; with whom the peace of Christ dwells : they are the 
branches of that vine of which Christ is the stem ; who keep 
his commandments and abide in his love ; who are chosen 
out of the world, therefore the world hateth them ; whom the 
Father loveth because they love Christ : they are those who 
have believed on him ; whom the Father hath given him out 
of the world ; they have kept his words, they are not of the 
world, even as Christ is not of the world ; the glory which 
the Father gives to Christ, Christ gives to them ; God loves 
them ; the love wherewith the Father loves the Son is in 
them ; Christ is in them, and he wills that, they may be with 
him where he is, that they may behold his glory. 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 315 

Such are the persons for whom Christ prays. Such are 
they for whom he supplicates that they may be one. Nov/, it 
is obvious that precisely equivalent terms to these are 'always 
used in the Scriptures with reference to the church of Christ. 
The church is always represented to be a portion of the human 
race possessing the very moral attributes which our Savior, in 
the passages which I have quoted, enumerates. Thus the 
apostle Paul addresses his various epistles either to the churches, 
or to the saints, or to the church of God ; to them that are 
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. The church in 
any place, and the saints in that place, mean, with him, pre- 
cisely the same persons. 

The church is repeatedly denominated by the apostle Paul 
the body of Christ, and every individual believer is a member 
of the body of which Christ is the head. Thus Eph. 1 : 22. 
" He hath given him to be head over all things to the church, 
which is his body." Eph. 4 : 15. " That ye may grow up into 
him in all things which is the head, even Christ, from whom the 
whole body, fitly joined together, maketh increase of the body." 
Col. 1 : 18. " And he is the head of the body, the church." 
The illustration here used is precisely analogous to that 
derived from the relation of the vine and its branches. The 
idea in both cases is the same. That portion of matter which 
obeys my will, and is pervaded by my spirit, and partakes of 
my animal life, is a part of my body. So the members of the 
body of Christ are those who obey his will, are influenced by 
his spirit, and partake of his moral life. These, taken to- 
gether, form the church, which is his body. All the rest are 
of the world. It is this spirit of Christ dwelling in them that 
distinguishes them from other men. " In Christ Jesus, neither 
circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing, but faith, 
that worketh by love." " If any man be in Christ Jesus, he 
is a new creature." "Christ has purchased the church of 
God with his own blood." " He loved the church, and gave 
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, that he 
might present it unto himself a glorious church, not having 



316 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy 
and without blemish." All the members of such a church, 
being holy persons, must, of course, be happy in heaven. 
" Ye are come to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living 
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the general assembly and 
church of the first-born which are written in heaven, and to 
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
perfect." From these, and a multitude of passages such as 
these, it is evident that the church of God is always spoken of 
in the New Testament, as the company of redeemed souls 
pervaded by the spirit of Christ, and that they are the persons 
of our race who possess exactly the same moral attributes as 
those for whom he prays that they may be one. They are 
the whole company of those who have come out from the 
world, who are united to Christ by a faith which worketh by 
love, who obey his commandments, and are laboring to be 
conformed to his likeness, that they may enter with him into 
his glory. Such are the children of men who form his spirit- 
ual body, and for whom he offered up his intercessory prayer. 
In this statement we express no other truths than those 
which are fully revealed in other portions of the sacred Scrip- 
tures. The whole doctrine of conversion or regeneration is in 
perfect harmony with all that we have above recited. Thus 
we are taught that the whole race of man has apostatized from 
God, is at enmity against him by wicked works, and is under 
the condemnation of his righteous law ; " for all have sinned 
and come short of the glory of God." Our Father in heaven, 
moved by sovereign and abounding grace, has provided for all 
men a way of pardon and reconciliation through the merits, 
obedience, and intercession of his well-beloved Son. " God 
so loved the world that he gave his . only-begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life. The ofFer of pardon and everlasting life is freely 
made to every individual of our race, on the condition that he 
truly repent of his sins, receive by faith the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and maintain a life of holy obedience. The commis- 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



317 



sion which he gave to his disciples, when he ascended, was in 
these impressive words : " Go ye into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, 
shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned.'" 
Whenever an individual of our race accepts of these terms of 
salvation, and by faith yields up his whole nature in love and 
obedience to Christ, he becomes a new creature, the Holy Spirit 
takes up his abode in the renewed soul, working in it that 
which is well pleasing to God ; God, for Christ's sake, pardons 
his sins, and receives the returning prodigal as a well-beloved 
son. The man becomes an heir of God and a joint heir with 
Christ ; he is delivered from the slavery of sin, and " has his 
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Henceforth, 
being influenced by the spirit of Christ, he is no more of the 
world, as Christ is not of the world. He was a sinner ; he is 
now a saint. He was an enemy of God ; he is now a child of 
God. He brought forth the fruits of the flesh ; he now brings 
forth the fruits of the Spirit. He was under condemnation ; 
now " there is a crown of righteousness laid up for him, and 
for all who love the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ." 

Such, then, is the character which the New Testament 
ascribes to the individual disciples of Christ. All, then, by 
partaking of his spirit, are united to him, and form a part of 
that spiritual body which is his church. Every one who 
possesses this moral character is a member of this body. The 
rest of mankind, by what name soever they may be known 
among men, are of the world, and are not of the church. 
The term church, you perceive, properly and originally desig- 
nates a class of persons possessing a particular moral charac- 
ter, precisely as the term world designates a class possessing 
an opposite character ; the one being precisely equivalent to the 
term saints, and the other to the term sinners. Thus all those, 
in the times of the apostles, who, in the sense that I have 
described, were disciples of Christ, were spoken of as members 
of the church. " Having put on the new man, which is 
renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, 
27* 



318 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



there was no more either Greek or Jew, circumcision or 
uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, or free," that is, all 
human distinctions were abolished, and " Christ was all and in 
all." Thus, in the same manner, in every other age, all that 
portion of living men who have turned from sin to holiness, and 
arc new creatures in Christ Jesus, are the church of God in 
the world, at that particular period. Thus, also, in a smaller 
society of men, in a nation, or city, or even a family, those 
who are the disciples of Christ are the church of God in that 
society. Thus all, in all ages, who have ever lived upon earth, 
and been received into glory, together with those who now by 
patient continuance in well-doing, are making their calling and 
election sure, the church militant below, with the church tri- 
umphant above, constitute " the general assembly and church 
of the first-born." And, when the mystery of redemption shall 
have been finished, and Christ shall have collected home all his 
ransomed ones into his house not made with hands, then the body 
of Christ shall be completed, and one church — the multitude 
which no man can number — shall surround the throne of God, 
singing, with one voice, the song of Moses and the Lamb, 
saying, " Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and 
made us kings and priests to our God ;" " Salvation, and glory, 
and honor, and power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and to the Lamb forever and ever." 

Such, then, is the simple notion of the church of Christ, as it 
is presented to us in the New Testament. It is a term used to 
designate a class of persons possessing a peculiar moral char- 
acter, right affections towards God and their fellow-men. 
Whoever possesses these moral affections belongs to this class, 
or is a member of this church, no matter by what other pecu- 
liarities he may be distinguished. Whoever is destitute of 
these moral attributes is not a member of this church, or does 
not belong to this class, no matter by what name he may be 
called, or what profession soever he may have assumed 

But, it may be said, this truly is the conception of the 
church, as it exists in the mind of Him that searcheth the 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



319 



heart. The Lord knoweth them that are his. But there is not 
in us this knowledge. We can form no such church. What, 
then, is the scriptural idea of the church as it actually exists 
here upon earth ? Let us proceed to answer this question. 

In the first place, then, I think it must be obvious that if this 
be the pure and original idea of a church, it must lie at the 
foundation of every practical and visible manifestation of it 
which we are authorized to constitute among men. We are 
not omniscient, and therefore cannot organize a church which 
shall inevitably include every true disciple, and exclude every 
one who is not a disciple. We are, however, bound to use, for 
this purpose, all the means of discrimination which the Holy 
Spirit has given us, honestly endeavoring, to the utmost of our 
power, to render the church visible coextensive with the 
church invisible. The model is placed before us ; and, 
though we are unable to attain to perfect conformity with it, 
we should labor to attain to as perfect a conformity as our 
limited knowledge will permit. 

I remark, secondly, Christ has commanded all his true 
disciples to come out from the world, by making an open and 
avowed profession of their attachment to him. He has 
appointed a solemn rite, by the reception of which this pro- 
fession is to be made. But, as there must be some authority 
under which this rite is administered, so that no other, if 
possible, than true disciples may be admitted to it, Christ has 
committed this authority to those who are already disciples. 
By these, every one who wishes to come out from the world, 
and profess his faith in Christ, is to be received into the num- 
ber of visible disciples. 

Again : Christ has appointed a solemn rite, in memory of 
his atoning death, which his disciples are commanded, from 
time to time, to celebrate. This second rite, like the other, is 
to be administered to those who are members of his body and 
partakers of his spirit. The meaning of it is, that they, in 
partaking of it, profess to be one with him, and one with each 
other. As none have a right to partake of this ordinance but 



320 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



true believers, Christ has authorized the disciples themselves 
to admit to it such persons as give evidence of faith in him, 
and to exclude from their fellowship all those in whom the 
evidences of piety are wanting. 

And, besides all this, religion is intimately connected with 
the social principles of our nature. In our warfare against sin, 
and our endeavors after holiness, we are greatly assisted by 
the sympathy of our brethren. It is natural that those whose 
hopes and fears, whose joys and sorrows, are similar, should 
associate together, that they may strengthen their faith by 
fraternal communion with each other. 

Again : it is made the duty of every disciple of Christ to 
extend the spiritual reign of his Master. He must hold forth 
the word of life, bear testimony against whatever is sinful, and 
devote himself to the work of saving men from the destruction 
which awaits the ungodly. Christ devoted himself to the labor 
of unceasing benevolence ; and we are disciples of Christ in 
just so far as we follow his example. Much of this labor can 
be carried on only by associated effort. Men earnestly 
engaged in such an undertaking will naturally unite with each 
other for the purpose of more successfully accomplishing the 
object to which each one has consecrated himself. 

For such reasons as these, our Lord has taught us that his 
disciples in any place should form themselves into fraternal 
societies. The object of such societies is purely spiritual. He 
only has a right to belong to them who is a member of the 
body of Christ ; and the reason for which he unites himself 
with them is, that he may do the will of Christ more perfectly. 
A society thus formed is a church. It has nothing to do with 
any other association, nor has any other association any thing 
to do with it. Its laws and its authority are all derived from 
Christ, who is its head. It is composed of those who are " a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a pecu- 
liar people — that they should show forth the praises of Him 
that hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous 
light." 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



321 



From what we have said, it is evident that such a society as 
this is designed for action. There are things to be done by 
the members as a community. All are not, however, endowed 
with powers for doing the same things. Each one must labor 
according to his several ability. Hence the necessity for some 
form of organization, and for the creation of such a system of 
agencies as is commonly called a government, and for such laws 
as shall prescribe the duties, privileges, and responsibilities of 
each member. It, however, hardly need to be remarked that 
the organization of such a society should be exceedingly sim- 
ple. The sole object of the association is to aid us in making 
other men, as well as ourselves, holy. This surely can demand 
no very complicated arrangements. Whatever we find in any 
ecclesiastical organization which is not directly productive of 
this object, whether it be innocent or noxious, can claim no 
sanction either from the precepts of Christ or his apostles. 

The question, however, may be asked, What is the form 
of government which Christ has ordained for these various 
communities of Christians ? I answer, I do not perceive in 
the New Testament any directions on this subject. I see there 
mention made of pastors, or religious teachers, who were to 
preach the word, and be examples to the flock; and deacons, 
whose office it was to distribute the charities of the disciples. 
But how these were to be appointed, or what was to be the 
form of the ruling authority, has not been authoritatively made 
known to us. I see nothing in the New Testament which 
would prevent any community of Christians from adopting any 
form of church government which they may esteem most for 
their edification. The forms which have been adopted, have, 
in fact, been very analogous to those which have obtained in 
civil society. All of these are allowable. Each one of them 
has various points of excellence. One may be better adapted 
to the habits and associations of one company of disciples, and 
another to another. But neither of them can, in my opinion, 
claim any divine authority. One of them is as acceptable to 
the Master as the other, if it be administered as much to his 



G44 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

glory and the edification of those who have chosen to adopt it. 
Of one thing, however, we may be certain. The form of 
government is not the church of Christ, any more than a 
republican constitution is the people of the United States, or a 
monarchy the people of Great Britain. The people existed 
before the constitution, and the true church, the body of Christ, 
existed before the establishment of any ecclesiastical organiza- 
tion. The church is the body of sincere disciples ; the form 
of government is the manner in which they have chosen to 
administer the laws of Christ in their intercourse with each 
other. The true disciples of Christ, who, in any place, hold 
forth the word of life, and are examples to the world, would, 
in the most important sense, be the church in that place, 
without any ecclesiastical organization whatever. Those who 
were destitute of his spirit, and were living to themselves, 
would not be his church, but the world ; no matter how per- 
fect, or how time-honored, may be the form of organization 
under which they may have been associated. 

Now, if this be true, it is evident that the church of Christ 
must be something quite unlike any visible association existing 
on earth. The qualifications which unite a man to the real 
church arc moral dispositions, of which man can but imper- 
fectly take cognizance. Organizations, called by the name of 
Christ, have frequently been formed, from which every true 
disciple is deliberately excluded. Societies calling them- 
selves churches have too often become synagogues of Satan, 
and haters of all that is good. But names cannot alter things, 
nor can the designations of men make him a member of the 
body of Christ, of whom Christ himself has said, " I never knew 
you : depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." He is a 
member of the church who is a penitent and believing disciple 
of Christ. He is no member of the church who is not such a 
disciple, no matter by what name he may be called. 

Thus Christendom is not the Church of Christ. By this 
term we generally designate those nations which acknowledge 
the Bible to be a revelation from God, and have forsaken the 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



323 



idolatry and paganism in which they had in former times been 
educated. Among these millions, a great number of the 
members of the church may be found ; but these nations are 
not the church, for they contain multitudes who have no hope, 
and are without God in the world. For the same reason, the 
religion of Christ cannot recognize such a thing as a national 
church. Such a church, if consistent, admits to its communion 
every citizen of the nation. But the qualifications for admission 
to the church are entirely unlike those of citizenship. To be a 
member of the church, a mar must be a member of the body 
of Christ, while the mere accident of birth within its territory 
entitles him to the privileges of citizenship. No being but 
Christ himself can alter the conditions of admission to his 
church. For man to assume such an authority, would be 
acknowledged as impious, if the frequent contemplation of the 
wrong had not blinded us to its real moral character. By 
what right, in the times of the apostles, could the emperor 
have enacted that every Roman citizen should be a member 
of the church of Christ ? And it is obvious that a govern- 
ment possesses no higher authority over the church of Christ 
at the present day, than at any preceding period. Religion 
is, and ever has been, the intercourse which the spirit of 
man holds with the unseen and uncreated Spirit ; and with it 
no created being has any conceivable right to interfere. 

Nor, again, can any one of the sects into which the disciples 
of Christ are divided, claim for itself the exclusive title of the 
Christian church. What sect can claim that all of its mem- 
bers are the unfeigned disciples of Christ, and that all without 
its pale are reprobates ? What sect of the Christian church is 
so distinguished by a holy life, by abounding self-denial, by 
victory over the world, and by universal charity, that, in the 
sight of God or man, it can dare to claim such a preeminence ? 
The sect which approached most nearly to the spirit of the 
Master, would be the last to indulge in so arrogant an assump- 
tion. Let any man take the New Testament in his hand, and, 
selecting those passages which describe and define the charac- 



324 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



ter of a disciple of Christ, examine the fruits of the Spirit 
which are produced by the different denominations of Chris- 
tians with which he is acquainted, and he must be sadly biased 
by prejudice, if he does not perceive in all of them, as com- 
munities, a lamentable deficiency of spiritual religion ; while 
it will be strange if he do not discover, among them all, some 
of those who are honestly striving, according to their knowl- 
edge, to do the will of Christ from the heart. True piety, 
membership of the church universal, includes all of no sect ; it 
excludes all of no sect ; but in every sect, as in every nation, 
u he that feareth God is accepted of him." While, however, 
I say this, I by no means would assert that differences in 
religious opinion are matters of no importance ; or that any 
one is forbidden, by the principles of charity, from proclaiming, 
in all faithfulness and love, whatever he believes to be true. 
All truth is good, for it comes from God ; and all error is evil, 
for it is derived from the fountain of evil. But, while this is 
granted, we should still remember, that it has not been given to 
us to determine, in any particular case, what is the degree of 
ignorance or error which shall exclude a man from the king- 
dom of heaven. If he bear in his life the fruits of the Spirit, 
we know that the Spirit of God must dwell with him, and we 
know that, whatever be his errors, they are not, in his particular 
case, fatal. This does not render his error the less erroneous, 
nor does it prove that the same degree of error would be consist- 
ent with salvation in the case of another. The admission that 
his heart may be right, while his opinions are wrong, does not 
make true what is false ; but it does furnish a reason why 
notwithstanding his errors, we should honor the spirit of Christ 
wherever we discover it, and by all Christian means strive tc 
teach him the way of God more perfectly. 

Hence, I think that we greatly err, if, in our efforts to extend 
the kingdom of Christ, we confine our interests to the sect 
to which we happen to belong ; as though it were alone, or 
even by way of eminence, the company of true disciples. 
The kingdom of Christ is extended as the number of true 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 325 

believers is increased, and as new members are added to his 
spiritual body, and in no other manner. Hence we should 
rejoice unfeignedly in the progress of true piety in any sect, 
and by any sect ; and we should, by such means as are in our 
power, strive to promote it. To oppose it, or to undervalue 
it, because it is not the work of the sect with which we are 
connected, is unchristian and selfish. If a man cast out 
devils in the name of Christ, we should imitate our Master's 
example, and forbid him not, because he folio weth not with 
us. The Christian's watchword should ever be, Grace, mercy, 
and peace, be multiplied unto all them that love the Lord 
Jesus Christ. In this spirit should we labor, in this spirit 
should we pray, and in this spirit should we rejoice in every 
event which advances the cause of true godliness among men. 
Again, as I have intimated before, the church of Christ is a 
totally different thing from any form of ecclesiastical organiza- 
tion. The various forms of church government are merely 
accidents ; the church can exist in connection with any of them, 
as it existed anterior to any of them. Nor have the two ideas 
any essential or necessary connection. The external organ- 
ization represents the union of men with each other; the 
church of Christ represents the spiritual union of men to 
Christ, who is the head. The two ideas may come practically 
into diametrical opposition. It is very possible to construct an 
organization by which men may be held together under a 
particular name, and which will pledge them to uphold par- 
ticular doctrines, and unite in the performance of particular 
rites, even for a long succession of ages. This organization 
may continue after the last vestige of true piety, and every 
distinctive feature of spiritual Christianity has perished from 
among them. Such is the fact, at the present moment, among 
many of the nations denominated Christian. In many parts 
of what is called Christendom, the very words of Christ are 
kept from the people ; the doctrines of the cross are a griev- 
ous offence, and the preaching of the gospel has been made 
the occasion of persecution of which the heathen would be 
28 



320 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



ashamed ; and this persecution has been excited by ecclesi- 
astics themselves, bearing the name of Christ, and claiming to 
be the successors of the apostles. If, then, an organization 
may unite men under the name of Christianity, while it culti- 
vates inveterate hostility to the very teachings of Christ, — if, 
while it claims to be the church of Christ, it persecutes unto 
the death the true members of his body, — this organization and 
the church of Christ, must be, as I have said, essentially differ- 
ent communities. Nor do these remarks apply exclusively to 
any particular form of ecclesiastical organization. The same 
facts have at different times occurred in the history of them 
all ; and they will occur again, until men shall have learned 
that Christianity exists not in rites, but in the temper of heart 
to God ; not in the letter, but in the spirit. 

And I may add, that I do not perceive in what manner any 
peculiar form of organization can be of special advantage 
more than another to the cause of true religion. Some forms 
have, I grant, a greater power of association than others, and 
are better able to transmit names and creeds, and conformity 
to external rites, from one age to another. But has any one 
of them any power whatever to implant in the heart of fallen 
man the principle of holiness ? to translate a soul from the 
kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of Christ, and make it, by 
the renewing of the Holy Spirit, a member of the body of 
Christ ? If not, in what respect can any of them advance 
the real interests of the cause of Christ ? Of what value is 
the power to retain the form, when there is no power to retain 
the substance ? Of what use is it to bedeck the corpse with 
the habiliments of life, when the spirit has departed ? I grant 
that a sect possessing no general and central organization 
must fall to pieces as soon as the animating spirit of piety has 
left it. And is it not better that it should fall to pieces ? If 
the body be dead, let it be buried ; it will otherwise become 
a source of corruption. A company of men, calling them- 
selves Christians, destitute of the spirit of Christ, are not of 
Christ, but of the world. They belong not to Christ ; why 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 327 

should they wear his livery, and, by being false witnesses for 
him, lead immortal souls to destruction ? The cause of Christ 
and the welfare of man demand that they be disbanded. 
" Let them be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel." Let 
the displeasure of God be seen to rest upon them. But let 
them not hold the form of godliness while they deny its 
power ; and, while they profess to be witnesses for Christ, by 
their conduct declare that they are living without God in the 
world. And I cheerfully accept this alternative with respect 
to the sect with which I am connected. If it be not a pious 
sect, earnestly engaged in the work of promoting the cause 
of true godliness, as a distinct organization, it must perish. 
It is better that it should. " If the salt have lost its savor, it 
is meet that it be cast out, and trodden under foot of men." 
The sole object for which a visible church is organized, 
is to advance the cause of Christ by rendering men more 
holy ; if it accomplish not this object, iris an offence which 
ought to be removed, a moral nuisance which ought to be 
abated. The principle which I thus apply to my own sect, 
I may, as I hope, without offence, apply to every other sect 
of the Christian church. 

In making these remarks, I shall not, I presume, be mis- 
understood. I speak here as the advocate of no sect, but as, 
I believe, in the true spirit of universal Christianity. In 
addressing you, young gentlemen, I am of no sect. Never, 
since I have been an instructor, — nay, I might, with truth, go 
farther, — have I uttered a word with the conscious intention 
of proselyting you to the denomination of which I am a 
member. I have no right to use what little influence 1 may 
possess, as an instructor, for such a purpose. You have all 
your own religious preferences, as you are connected with 
the different persuasions of Protestant Christianity. We 
would have you enjoy these preferences to the uttermost; 
and in this institution you have, from the beginning, enjoyed 
them to the uttermost, not as a favor, but as an inalienable 
right. We would say to you all, Search the Scriptures, each 



328 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



one for himself; and, by the exercise of your own under- 
standings, ascertain what is the truth which Jesus Christ lias 
revealed to us. Having done this, unite yourselves, if you 
have not yet done it, to that sect whose belief and practice 
seem most in harmony with the teachings of the holy oracle. 
Understand what you profess, and be always ready, as intelli- 
gent men, to give to others a reason of your faith. But 
guard yourselves against the notion that your sect is, in any 
exclusive sense, the church of Christ, or that, in any special 
sense, it imbodies the heirs of heaven or the favorites of God. 
Reverence, and love, and imitate real piety, wherever you 
may find it. Your great distinction is not that you are a 
member of this or of that sect, but that you are a child of 
God, and an humble, self-denying disciple of the blessed Savior. 
Study, by all the means in your power, to advance the cause 
of truth and holiness among men ; and rejoice as much and 
as truly to witness the prosperity of religion among other 
sects as in your own. This, if I understand it, is the spirit of 
real, universal Christianity. This is the spirit exemplified by 
Him who came to seek and to save them that were lost; who 
died to create in us a new life ; and who accepts the worship 
of all who worship him in sincerity and truth. 

And, finally, let this discussion teach us that our connection 
with a particular sect is no evidence whatever that we are 
members of the church of Christ. Sects are of human 
origin, the work of man, and by the will of man are we 
admitted to them. The disciple of Christ is born, not of the 
will of man, but of God. The church of Christ is composed 
exclusively of those that are new creatures in Christ Jesus, 
who are crucified to the world, and are living by faith in 
Jesus Christ. Let us not then deceive ourselves by living 
contented with any mere profession of Christianity. Against 
this fatal and most common error, our Lord has specially 
forewarned us. " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that 
doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." " Many 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 329 

will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not proph- 
esied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in 
thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will j 
profess unto them, I never knew you ; depart from me, yt 
that work iniquity." Let us, then, look far beyond our pro- 
fession, and try ourselves by the temper of our hearts. " We 
must judge ourselves if we would not be condemned." It is 
moral character alone which unites us to Christ. It is the 
indwelling of the Spirit which creates us the children of God 
And if that Spirit dwell not in us, whatever be our profes- 
sion, at the great day we shall be cast out as reprobates, 

28* 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 



" Neither pray I for these aloxe, but tor them also that shall 

BELIEVE OX ME THROUGH THEIR WORD ; THAT THEY ALL MAY BE 

oxe, as thou, Father, art ix me axd I ix thee, that they 

ALSO MAY BE ONE IX US; THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT 
THOU HAST SEXT ME." 

John xvii. 20, 21. 

Having, in the previous discourse, attempted to define the 
character of the church of Christ, I proceed to inquire into 
the nature of that unity for which the Redeemer, in the text, 
makes supplication. 

Does this unity consist in identity of knowledge ? Plainly 
not. The disciples of Christ differ in this respect as much 
as other men. In the school of Christ are to be found the 
child, whose intellect has but just begun to unfold itself, and the 
sage, to whose teachings nations listen with reverence ; the 
savage, who has not yet heard even the name of science, and 
the philosopher, whose discoveries have filled the world with 
his renown. Nor is this true alone of human knowledge. 
There are to be found in the church of Christ believers, the 
eyes of whose understandings have been but lately opened 
upon the wonderful truths of redeeming love, as well as those 
who, by the habitual contemplation of the doctrines of the 
cross, have arrived at the stature of perfect men in Christ 
Jesus. It is obvious that inasmuch as piety is a temper of 
heart, it may exist amid every variety and with every degree 
of spiritual knowledge. It cannot, therefore, be in identity 
of knowledge that the unity spoken of in the text consists. 

Does this unity consist in identity of opinion on all the 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 331 

truths even of religion ? I answer again, Plainly not. Diver- 
sity of knowledge, and of intellectual and spiritual culture, 
must, by necessity, produce differences of opinion. The light 
of the sun, always pure, always the same, is reflected in 
different colors, as it falls upon the differently organized sur- 
faces of the objects which surround us. So, the same truth 
will be differently apprehended by men of unequal endow- 
ments, of dissimilar attainments, and of diversified opportuni- 
ties for spiritual cultivation. The apostle Paul, who had 
profited in the Jews' religion above many who were his equals, 
and had moreover drunk deeply at the wells of classical learn- 
ing, formed conceptions of divine truth very dissimilar to 
those of a Jew who had devoted his whole life to the traditions 
of the fathers, and whose intellectual thirst had been slaked 
only at the streams which trickled, in muddy obscurity, from 
the cisterns of rabbinical logomachy ; although both of them 
might have truly submitted themselves to the teachings of 
Jesus. Every thing, as the schoolmen have said, is received 
according to the nature of the recipient. Seed, under the 
proper conditions of warmth and moisture, will spring up and 
bear fruit any where ; but the vegetation will be more vigor- 
ous, and the fruit richer and more abundant, in the well-tilled 
field than on the stony and neglected heath. 

But this is not all. The truths which are essential to salva- 
tion are revealed to us in the Bible with indubitable clearness. 
But, beyond these, there is much knowledge at which we 
would gladly arrive, which has not been revealed, and con- 
cerning which, we may form opinions, and nothing more than 
opinions. On such subjects as these, it is not remarkable that 
different opinions should be formed by men of dissimilar 
degrees of knowledge and great variety of intellectual cul- 
ture. And, still more, the Bible generally reveals to us facts ; 
while the theory of these facts is commonly unrevealed. 
When men form theories for the purpose of explaining truth, 
they will form them in harmony with their previous habits 
of thought. Of these various theories, in explanation of a 



332 THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

particular fact, but one, at best, can be true, and most likely all 
of them will be false, since it is very difficult for man to dis- 
cover what God has seen fit to conceal. To illustrate my 
meaning by a single case : The Bible reveals to us the fact of 
man's universal sinfulness, and of a connection between this 
sinfulness and the sin of our first parents. This is all that it 
behoves us to know. This is sufficient to show the necessity 
of a way of salvation by grace. This granted, all the doc- 
trines that flow from it assume their position by the necessity 
of reason, no less than by the teaching of revelation. But 
the precise manner in which man at first becomes a sinner, 
and the manner in which our moral constitution has been 
affected by the sin of Adam, have not, that I know of, been 
any where revealed ; and yet, on these questions, how many 
volumes have been written, how many controversies waged, 
and how much animosity excited ! All men who receive the 
Bible as a revelation from heaven must agree as to the 
revealed fact ; but they may all differ among themselves in 
respect to the un revealed theory. And yet it is in respect to 
this unrevealed theory that they have so fiercely insisted upon 
uniformity of opinion. The same remarks apply with equal 
force to the controversies which have been waged respecting 
the doctrines of the sovereignty of God and the free agency of 
man. It is evident, then, that the unity of the church of God 
does not consist in identity of belief in matters of opinion. 

Does the unity of the Christian church consist in uniformity 
of practice, even in matters strictly religious ? I answer 
again, Clearly not. This uniformity of practice did not exist 
even in apostolic times, and under the preaching of inspired 
teachers themselves. There was seen in the church at Rome 
considerable diversity of practice. " One believed that he 
might eat all things, another would eat only herbs." " One 
man esteemed one day above another, another esteemed every 
day alike.'" So, in the church at Corinth, there were some 
who, knowing that the whole system of mythology was a 
childish absurdity, could, without offence, eat the flesh of an 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



333 



animal that had been killed in sacrifice to an idol s others, 
whose minds were not freed from early associations, refused to 
do it. In other churches, again, there were those who believed 
that the rite of circumcision should be observed for the sake 
of expediency ; others wholly rejected it. The apostle Paul 
by no means condemned these differences of opinion or of 
practice. He merely taught that every one should be fully 
persuaded in his own mind, and that, whatever might be his 
practice, he should observe it, because he believed that, in so 
doing, he would be most acceptable to God. He held forth 
the principle by which every disciple of Christ must be 
governed, — " No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to 
himself;" and allowed every man to apply it to his own case, 
in matters of this kind, as his own understanding and con- 
science should direct. I do not perceive any other manner in 
which an intelligent moral agent, accountable to God, can be 
guided in the path of his duty. 

In the Scriptures, the principles which should govern us in 
our relations to God, and in our essential relations to man, are 
clearly made known. It is required of us, that honestly, and 
in the fear of God, we govern our lives in conformity to them. 
But among the varieties of human character and education, and 
amid the exigencies of human condition, it is not possible that 
all men should applythese principles in the same manner and to 
the same things. The revealed will of God may seem to one 
man to render obligatory a course of action, as in the case of the 
Romans alluded to, which to another seems indifferent. Hence, 
if each one obeys what he believes to be the will of God, 
there must arise diversity of practice. The moral law teaches 
that, in these cases, where nothing is definitely prescribed, 
each one do, from the heart, what he believes to be com- 
manded, or, in the words of the apostle, that every one be 
fully persuaded in his own mind. And the same apostle 
teaches us that, on account of these differences of practice, " no 
one should judge his brother, and no one should set at nought 
his brother, since we must all appear before the judgment 



334 THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

seat of Christ, and it is to the Master alone that every one of 
us standeth or falleth. 

Hence it will appear, that since the unity of the Christian 
church allows of all these differences both • in opinion and 
practice, it presupposes the full enjoyment of the right of pri- 
vate judgment. It imposes upon us no obligation to believe 
according to the decisions of councils or synods, or ministers 
or prelates, or the sect, or party, to which we belong. What 
God requires us to believe, he has clearly made known to the 
understanding of each one of us, and what is left to our own 
inferences is not a matter for the dictation of our fellow-men. 
In the concerns of religion, no created beings can interpose 
between the soul and God ; nor can any combinaion of men, 
without daring impiety, either add to or take from aught that 
God has commanded. With these views, the disciple of Christ 
unites himself with that community of Christians whose views 
harmonize most nearly with his own. He unites with them, 
in preference to others, because his belief and practice are in 
conformity with theirs ; but he neither believes a doctrine nor 
performs a duty because he has united with them. Neither his 
sect nor his church can impose upon him any duty which the 
Master has not imposed. The point of union with each other 
is not obedience to ecclesiastical authority, but a similar under- 
standing of the commands of the Master who is head over all. 

The unity of the church of Christ cannot proceed from 
without ; it must proceed from within. We cannot, with a good 
conscience towards God, either believe or act as our fellow- 
men shall direct ; but we must believe what our intellect 
teaches us to be true, and do what our conscience, enlightened 
by the revelation from God, declares to be right. Nor, if we 
should choose to disobey this elementary instinct of our moral 
nature, could we by this suicidal sacrifice attain to unity. 
Suppose we choose to surrender our intellect and conscience 
into the hands of ecclesiastical teachers, — what teachers shall 
wo select ? Those who claim the right to exercise dominion 
o\or our faith, differ among themselves as widely as we should 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 33 »3 

differ by the exercise of private judgment. We should gain 
nothing by the change ; while, in submitting our conscience to 
man, we have bowed down to the creature instead of the 
Creator. Nay, more : if our Christian brethren, whether they 
be clergy or laity, assume authority over our conscience, and 
demand that we shall believe or act, in matters of religion, 
because they have so enacted, and not because Christ has 
commanded it, they are guilty of lording it over God's heritage, 
and their conduct merits nothing but contempt and detestation. 

We inquire, then, In what does the unity of the church, 
spoken of in the text, really consist ? I answer, It consists in 
identity of moral affections, in a right temper of heart towards 
God and towards our fellow-men. After what I have said in 
the preceding discourse, a few remarks will suffice to illustrate 
this part of our subject. 

I have said that eveiy member of the true church of Christ 
is a member of the body of Christ, and is pervaded by the 
spirit of Christ. The Spirit of God dwells in his heart, influ- 
encing him to do those things, and to exercise those affections, 
that are well pleasing to God. " If a man have not the spirit 
of Christ, he is none of his." " And as many as are led by 
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." There is, then, 
one infinite, all-wise, and all-holy Spirit to lead them all ; there 
is in every one of them a disposition to be led by that Spirit. 
They must, then, all be taught alike ; they must cherish the 
same moral affections, and be conformed to the same image — 
the image of Christ, who is the head. Identity of moral 
character, then, flows by necessity from renewal of heart and 
sanctification of the spirit ; without which no man can be a 
disciple of Jesus Christ. 

Those who are taught by the Spirit of God have the same 
moral affections to God. They look up to him as a reconciled 
Father in Christ Jesus ; to him they joyfully surrender up their 
affections and their will ; they desire that not their will, but his, 
should be done ; they mourn over their past sins and their 
present misdoings ; and, looking for pardon through his well- 



336 THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

beloved Son, earnestly, and above all things, desire to be deliv- 
ered from the power of evil, and to be made perfect in holiness. 
M They have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, 
but the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father." 

Those who are taught of the Spirit have the same affections 
towards men. There is implanted in their bosoms the spirit of 
universal love. All men are their brethren — brethren for 
whom Christ died ; and " if he laid down his life for us," his 
spirit teaches us that " we ought to lay down our lives for the 
brethren." The pen of inspiration has delineated the fea- 
tures of that temper towards man which dwells in the heart 
of every disciple of Christ, without which, whatever be our 
profession, we are as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. 
M Charity suffcreth long and is kind, charity envieth not, charity 
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself 
unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh 
no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; 
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, 
endureth all things." Such is the temper towards man which 
the Holy Spirit creates in the heart of every disciple of Christ. 

Again : the spirit of Christ proposes the same object of living 
for every true member of his body. The believer has been 
redeemed, not with corruptible things, but with the precious 
blood of Christ. All were dead, and " Christ died for all, that 
wc, which live, should not live unto ourselves, but unto him 
which died for us and rose again." By the principle of grat- 
itude, then, as a redeemed sinner, no less than of original duty 
as a creature of God, he is under obligation to consecrate all 
that he possesses, and all that he is, to the cause of Christ. 
His object of life is not to secure to himself the honors, or 
pleasures, or riches, or power of the present life ; but to con- 
tend against all sin, and advance the whole race, as well as 
himself, in all goodness, so that the will of God may be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. 

Such, then, is the manifestation of the Spirit in every 
renewed soul. Such is the peculiar type of character which 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 337 

the religion of the Bible creates and cultivates in the heart of 
every one who is a. member of the body of Christ. In all 
ages, these elements of character may be discovered, wherever 
a man has been born of the Spirit. It is in this respect that 
the church is one. These moral dispositions unite together the 
saints of all ages, and nations, and of every variety of mental 
culture ; and also unite the church on earth to the " general 
assembly and church of the firstborn who are written in 
heaven." That this type of character ever exists in perfection 
amid the ignorance and blindness of earth, of course, I do 
not assert. It was only realized without spot or blemish, in 
the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, and, 
by his perfect obedience and death, wrought out our redemp- 
tion. His disciples make nearer and nearer approaches to it 
as they make greater and greater attainments in holiness. But 
no one is a disciple of Christ who does not set the holy 
example of his Master before him, and honestly, earnestly, and 
above all things else, strive, in the temper of his heart and the 
practice of his life, to be transformed into the same image. 

But, it may reasonably be asked, Does not such a temper 
of heart presuppose some identity of belief, and is not therefore 
a peculiar belief necessary to salvation ? I reply, It is evident 
that our affections must be the result of our knowledge. No 
man can come to God, unless he believe that there is a God. 
No man can love God as a Father, unless he have some suit- 
able conceptions of the character of God. No man can 
believe in Christ, unless he know what Christ has done for 
him. It is, therefore, evident that, unless there be a belief of 
the truth, there can never exist the affections which are its 
natural result. Fatal error begins where a man's belief on 
matters of religion is inconsistent with those tempers of heart 
which unite the soul to Christ. This point may not be the 
same in all persons, and under various circumstances of edu- 
cation and knowledge. God knows where it is for each one 
of us, but I do not know that he has revealed it to us. If 
we honestly, earnestly, and humbly seek for the truth, we 
29 



338 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



shall never fall into fatal error. Hence, for a good and pious 
man to be lost, because he does not believe a particular doc- 
trine, is impossible. No man is lost simply because of his 
belief ; but because that belief is of such a nature that it is 
inconsistent with goodness and piety ; and because he has 
sinfully clung to his error, turning away from all the light 
which a compassionate God has thrown around him. 

But it may be well for ys to examine this question by the 
light of history, and inquire whether it be the fact, that this 
identity of moral character has, in all ages, been manifested in 
the lives of those whom the. Bible designates as the children 
of God. Have those who have subjected themselves to the 
teachings of revelation, exhibited the same moral affections to 
God, the same love to man, and the same unity of object ? 

All these questions may, I think, be easily answered in the 
affirmative. A peculiar and unique form of character is 
clearly to be observed in all those who are called the children 
of God, from the beginning of the inspired record to the present 
moment.* It is totally unlike any form of character elsewhere 
to be observed ; it is derived from moral views which this 
world does not present ; it is not indigenous to our nature in 
its present lapsed condition ; it is every where similar to itself, 
and unlike the world around it ; and every where it reveals 
itself as the meet preparation for the society of that " city 
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 

Take, if you will, the example of Abraham. Observe the 
filial confidence in God, the profound and unhesitating submis- 
sion to his will, which shone forth in the whole life of this 
venerable patriarch ; add to this, his meek and self-sacrificing 
love of peace, — though he was a man of Oriental loftiness of 
spirit, — and his interceding earnestness in behalf of the doomed 
cities of the plain ; and you instantly recognize the elements 
of that character, which, under both the Old Testament and 
the New, designate a man as the friend of God, and an inher- 
itor of the glory that shall be revealed. Make the allowance 
which belongs to difference of condition and culture, and you 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



339 



observe the same moral affections governing the life of Moses, 
" who chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God 
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; " who, for forty 
years, bore with meekness the contradiction of his brethren in 
the wilderness, and refused the offei of being himself made a 
great nation, lest his people should be destroyed, and the name 
of God dishonored. You perceive the same, or similar ele- 
ments, in the character of Samuel, the patriot seer ; of David, 
the warrior minstrel ; of Isaiah, the seraphic prophet, and of 
the other messengers of Heaven, who recalled their country- 
men from the worship of idols, and revealed to them the holi- 
ness and the compassion of the God of Abraham. 

And, besides this, the form of moral character which these 
men exemplified has been the study of the godly through all 
subsequent time. Their trains of thought on other subjects 
have, for ages, been forgotten ; and could they be recalled, 
there would be scarcely any thing on earth with which they 
would now be in analogy. But the saint, walking in darkness, 
when every thing else has failed him but the promise of God, 
still strengthens his faith by meditating upon the example of 
Abraham. The confessor, who has surrendered all for Christ, 
remembers the example of Moses, and is comforted. The 
penitent sorrowing for sin, and the believer rejoicing in God, 
can find no language in which he can so adequately pour 
forth the deep emotions of his soul, as in that of David and 
of Asaph. Thus the pious, in all ages, have acknowledged 
themselves the children of those, who, under the comparative 
darkness of a distant dispensation, trusted in God ; and, in the 
consciousness of moral feeling identical with theirs, joyfully 
accepted the evidence that they were the followers of those 
" who, through faith and patience, inherited the promises.'" 

Or take, for instance, the ages which intervened between 
the early period of the church and the Protestant reformation, 
and, amidst the darkness which so long brooded over our race, 
under the despotism of an ignorant, profligate, and apostate 
priesthood, you will find that God, even then, did not leave 



340 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



himself without a witness. Scattered here and thare, amidst 
the millions of Christian idolaters, you might find the true 
successors of the apostles — men who, following in tbe footsteps 
of Christ, were renouncing the world, living for heaven, shed- 
ding aiound them the lustre of a holy example, and cherishing 
in their hearts the true love of man. Such men as Bernard, 
Thomas a Kcmpis, Huss, WicklifFe, and the Waldenses of 
Piedmont, taking the word of God for the rule of their lives, 
and the consolations of the gospel for the ground of their hope, 
handed down, through successive ages, the light of everlasting 
truth to tluj.se for whom was reserved the dawn of a brighter 
and more illustrious day. 

Since the reformation, the disciples of Christ have con- 
stituted for themselves different sects, as was natural, and 
without offence. On the various points upon which they have 
differed, there have arisen controversy, disputation, and fre- 
quently collision ; although this latter has almost always ori- 
ginated in the unchristian and oppressive union of the church 
with the state. But, notwithstanding all this, the essential 
union of which I have spoken has been preserved among the 
true, not nominal, disciples of Christ. Where is the Protestant 
whose spirit has not been' purified while listening to the per- 
suasive piety and meek wisdom of Fenelon, or whose knowl- 
edge of his own heart has not been extended, while its deep 
recesses have been explored by the searching eloquence of 
Massillon ? What member of the whole church of Christ has 
not trodden in the steps of the " Pilgrim " of Bunyan ? Whose 
aspirations after holiness have not been quickened by reading 
the " Saints' Rest " of Baxter ? Where is the man, of any 
sect, who has not derived spiritual advantage from the " Rise 
and Progress " of Doddridge ? Who of us has not examined 
his title to heaven more carefully by the aid derived from 
the " Treatise on the Religious Affections " of Edwards ? 
Whose devotions have not been animated by the prayers and 
meditations of Bishops Andrews, Wilson, and Hall? In 
bringing our spirits under the influence of these works, and 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



341 



such as these, we forget that there ever have been sects in the 
Christian church ; we feel that the words of these holy men 
express the inmost sentiments of our souls ; we are conscious 
that we and they are one with Christ and one with each other ; 
and we long for the time when, having put aside these bodies 
of flesh, our union with them shall be perfected before the 
throne of God and the Lamb. 

The authors whose names I have mentioned were, some of 
them at least, among the most voluminous among the writers 
even of theological controversy. Their treatises and dispu- 
tations on topics incidental to piety would of themselves form, 
in amount, no contemptible theological library ; and the bare 
enumeration of them would exhaust the time that remains to 
us of this discourse. But these works are now almost for- 
gotten, and they have been transferred from the hands of the 
student to those of the antiquarian. The works by which these 
truly great men are now known, and through means of which, 
they are now loved and revered, are precisely those which 
tend to cultivate in the heart of man true love to God and 
universal charity to man. When they treated on these topics, 
they touched a chord which awakened a corresponding vibra- 
tion in every heart that had been attuned by the Spirit of God. 
These are the works which the sons of God would not willingly 
let die, while all the rest they have consented to surrender to 
oblivion. Thus it is that the piety of a soul in any age 
awakens a moral sympathy in the pious souls of every suc- 
ceeding age. Though centuries may intervene between their 
sojourning on earth, each one acknowledges the other as a 
brother, and, forgetting the matters of opinion on which they 
may have differed, encircles him in the embrace of Christian 
fellowship, and humbly endeavors to tread in the footsteps 
of those " who, through faith and patience, have inherited the 
promises." 

Now, in all this, I cannot but believe that there is something 
which could not have existed were not the religion taught by 
the Bible a revelation from Heaven. Here is a type of char- 
29* 



342 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



acter peculiar and by itself, and, in many respects, decidedly 
at variance with the ordinary principles of human nature. It 
exists the same under every modification of revealed truth ; it 
passes onward, through the current of controversy, without 
becoming commingled with it; every where it is recognized 
by every one who possesses it, and it unites them all in the 
brotherhood of the Spirit. It is designated by the exercise of 
the same affections, by the cherishing of the same hopes, and 
the dread of the same dangers ; its sentiments in the most 
distant ages, and amidst every variety of social condition, are 
expressed by the same identical language ; it tends ever to the 
same result ; and all who possess it rejoice in the prospect of 
meeting the same Savior, with all his redeemed ones, in the 
same mansions of everlasting rest. If this be so, then, surely, 
in so far as this, the prayer of the Savior has been answered ; 
those that believe on him are one, and this unity is an abiding 
evidence that the Father has sent him. 

And, lastly, it is clearly the will of Christ that this unity of 
his disciples should be manifested to the world. He prays 
" that they may be one, that the world may believe that the 
Father has sent him." But the world cannot be convinced by 
the fact, unless, by our conduct, the fact be made obvious. He 
requires that those who are members of his body should con- 
fess their union with him before men. For the same reason, 
he requires that those who are members of each other should 
witness by their brotherly love the same confession. He him- 
self gave the first illustration of this love by declaring it para- 
mount to every other form of affection. " He stretched forth 
his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and 
my brethren ; for whosoever shall do the will of my Father, 
who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and 
mother." And, in the times of the apostles, and afterwards, 
this more than fraternal love of the disciples of Christ was 
fully and nobly exemplified. It was the universal badge of 
discipleship. " We know that we have passed from death 
unto life, because we love the brethren." " Every one thai 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 343 

loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." And, in the early 
ages of the church, the manifestation of this love amid perse- 
cution unto death, became one of the most convincing proofs 
of the reality of religion. The heathen every where confessed 
that they knew of no principles which were capable of pro- 
ducing such effects, and were obliged to admit that love such 
as this was of God. 

And, if this be true, it is also true that the manifestation of 
this love is an end to be desired for itself. It. is an incom- 
parable blessing, a source of pure, elevated, and ennobling joy, 
and it is one of the means which Christ himself has appointed 
for the conversion of the world. Were it exemplified as Christ 
and his apostles exemplified it, it would furnish a stronger and 
more convincing argument for the authenticity of the mission 
of Christ, than all the works of controversy that have ever 
been written. 

If, then, the visible manifestation of this unity be in itself so 
desirable, it is an object for which we are bound to make 
sacrifices.' We should sacrifice to it our love of sectarian 
aggrandizement, our desire to control the opinions of our 
brethren, our strife for ecclesiastical power, and even, if it be 
necessary, the good opinion of the members of our own sect. 
Christ, and the members of his spiritual body, should be dearer 
to us than any human organization. If it be not so, where is 
our love of Christ ? And if it be asked, How far shall this 
sacrifice be carried ? I answer, Up to the point of the sacrifice 
of principle. We cannot, for the sake of unity, do wrong, or 
be the parties to wrong-doing ; we cannot declare that to be 
true which we believe to be false ; or perform, as an ordinance 
of Christ, what we do not believe that Christ has commanded. 
When this limit meets us, we can go no farther. To go far- 
ther than this, would be to surrender up a conscience void of 
offence, and to value union with men more than union with 
Christ. But so far as this it is our duty to go. We should 
testify our love to our real brethren in Christ, by uniting with 
them in every thing, so far as we can do it without the 



344 THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

surrender of truth and a good conscience. When this limit 
has been reached, we must separate ; but we should separate, 
not in unkind ness, but in mutual love ; cooperating in all 
things, where we can do it honestly ; regretting that we can- 
not cooperate in all, and always "keeping the unity of the 
spirit in the bond of peace." He who is not willing to do 
this, has much yet to learn of the spirit of Christ. He who is 
willing to render wider the apparent breaches which already 
exist between the various persuasions of Christians, and, by 
magnifying their points of difference, withdraw them farther 
and farther from each other, is wounding Christ in the house 
of his friends, and holding up the church of Christ to the 
merited reproach of a thoughtless and gainsaying world. 

And if it be demanded, in what way may we cultivate 
in our own hearts, and make manifest to others, this spirit of 
universal love to the whole body of Christ, the answer, from 
what has been already said, is obvious. We cannot do it by 
striving to convert all men to our individual opinions. To do 
this, is manifestly impossible, when men enjoy freedom of 
discussion and investigation. Why should we wish to do it 
until we ourselves become omniscient and infallible ? Nor 
should we strive to bring all men to imitate our particular 
practice. Differences in action must follow from the neces- 
sary differences of opinion. Why should we judge another 
man's servant ? " To his own master he standeth or falleth." 
After faithfully and kindly setting forth the reasons of our 
belief and practice, we should rest. But we must go farther. 
Having done this, we must still strive for unity. We must do 
this by cultivating in our own hearts a more fervent love to 
Christ ; and just in proportion to our love to him will be our 
love to his image, as it is displayed in the members of his 
spiritual body. Overlooking the narrow limits of sect and 
party, w r e should cultivate a spirit of universal love to the 
whole assembly of the redeemed of every age, of every sect, 
and of every variety of social condition. Wherever the spirit 
of Christ manifests itself, there it should be sure of our sym- 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 



345 



pathy. Whenever our brethren are in adversity, we should 
proffer them o,ur aid ; whenever they are in prosperity, we 
should rejoice in their success. Wherever they are laboring 
to advance the interests of truth and righteousness, we should 
remember them, without ceasing, at the throne of grace, and 
unite our efforts with theirs, as we may have opportunity. 
It is thus that we shall bring the spirit of Heaven down upon 
earthy and it shall be seen that God is in the midst of us of a 
truth. Though separated in matters of opinion, as must be the 
case with honest, independent men, the disciples of Christ will 
still be one, and the world will believe that he is the Messiah 
sent by the Father. 



THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE 
CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 



PART I. 



"Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Cesar's, 
and unto God the things that are God's." 

Matthew xxii. 21. 

This sentence was spoken by our Lord in reply to a ques- 
tion of casuistry presented for his decision by the Pharisees 
and Herodians of Jerusalem. It teaches us, that a disciple of 
Christ is under a moral obligation to obey the civil authority, 
but that there are limitations within which that obligation is 
restricted. I propose to ascertain the meaning of the passage, 
and then to derive from it such instructions as may be appro- 
priate to the condition of a Christian citizen at the present day. 

At the time when the conversation was held, of which the 
text forms a part, Judea was a Roman province. Its king 
was an Idumean, who held his authority under the Emperor 
Tiberius. Every important city through the Holy Land was 
garrisoned by Roman soldiery. The common currency of the 
nation was Roman coin. The law which transcended every 
other law, and to which every citizen had the right to appeal, 
was Roman law. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
was worshipped only by sufferance. Every thing bore testi- 
mony to the fact, that the independence of the kingdom of 
David had passed away, and that Judea lay prostrate at the 
feet of the mistress of the world. 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 347 

It was under these circumstances that the Pharisees and 
Herodians, waiving for the present their differences of opinion, 
agreed upon a question to be submitted to our Lord, for the 
sake of entangling him in his talk. They were unable to con- 
ceive how he could possibly answer it, without embroiling 
himself either with the people or the government. " Master," 
said they, " we know that thou art true, and teachest the way 
of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man, for thou 
regardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what 
thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or 
not?" 

The question thus artfully proposed, was intended, I pre- 
sume, to suggest some such considerations as th^ following : 
This land was given to Abraham, and to us his posterity, foi 
an everlasting possession. The family of David was selected 
by the Most High to be our hereditary rulers. We are the 
worshippers of the true God, while all other nations are sense- 
less idolaters. The payment of tribute is an acknowledgment 
of submission to an authority which we believe to be usurped. 
By doing it we profess to receive as magistrate, and reverence 
as sovereign, a man who has never been appointed by God to 
govern us; nay, more, we acknowledge the right of unclean 
idolaters to bear rule over the chosen worshippers of Jehovah. 
Coming to Jesus, — as a teacher sent from God, a personage 
incapable of being swayed by the fear of man, who in a matter 
of right would look unawed upon the whole power of the Ro- 
man empire, — they ask him what, under these circumstances, 
they shall do. Can persons of as tender consciences as we, 
say they, pay this tribute without sin ? or must we refuse, ami 
bring upon ourselves all the consequences of resistance to the 
civil authority ? 

This was not the first, nor has it been the last time in which 
the rights of conscience have been pleaded as an excuse for 
deliberate wickedness. All this our Lord knew perfectly well. 
The question, however, in itself, was one of grave importance. 
Our Lord proceeded to answer it just as though the motive 



348 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 



which prompted it had been ever so innocent. He, in very 
few words, announces the rule by which his disciples in all 
ages should be directed in their relations to the civil govern- 
ment. Let us proceed to examine this rule. 

" Show me a penny," said he. " Whose image and super- 
scription hath it ? " That is, whom doth this piece of money 
testify to be the actual sovereign of this country ? " They 
say unto him, Caesar's." They thus acknowledge that their 
actual sovereign is Ccesar. " Render, therefore," said he, 
" unto Csesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the 
things that are God's." Csesar, you perceive, is here put for 
the chief magistrate of the nation, the organ of civil govern- 
ment, the agent of civil society. The precept of our Lord 
then is, render to the civil government whatever is due to the 
civil government, and to God whatever is due to God. And 
you will observe that, in this connection, the precept to ren- 
der unto God the things that are God's, is not absolute, but 
relative. It is not the simple command to worship, revere, 
and love our Father who is in heaven. It has special refer- 
ence to the case in which there may seem to arise a collision 
between these two duties. Whenever such a case occurs, 
we, as beings responsible for all our acts to God, are bound 
deliberately to consider it. We are to determine precisely 
what belongs to the civil government, and then, as citizens 
and as Christians, we are under moral obligation to render it. 
But, then, in this, as in every other case, we are bound to 
consider also what belongs unto God. Nothing must either 
tempt or affright us from obedience to him. His claim over 
us transcends that of the civil magistrate. We ought to obey 
God, rather than man. And we may.be confident, that, in 
obeying him, we shall never violate any duty which we owe 
to the magistracy, for if the magistracy command us to dis- 
obey God, it has transcended its proper powers, its commands 
are of no authority, and a Christian must not obey them. 

There can be no doubt, however, that our Lord intended 
to direct them to pay the tribute money. He knew that they 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 349 

would be called upon for it, and he offers no reason why they 
should not pay it. But he goes farther. " Show me," said 
he, " the tribute money. Whose image and superscription 
hath it ? They say unto him, Caesar's." Holding it up 
before them, or pointing to it, as I presume he did, he replies, 
" Render unto C&ssar Caesar's things." That is to say, this 
tribute money, on which his image is engraved and his name 
is written, belongs to Cassar, and to him let it be paid. Now, 
this decision, if 1 mistake not, throws some light upon anothei 
question, which, in this connection, is very likely to be raised. 
It teaches us that Christianity has nothing to do with the forms 
of human government. The people were at this time living 
under an absolute monarchy. The reigning sovereign was a 
tyrant of atrocious wickedness. And yet our Lord directs 
that the government be respected and the tribute paid. He 
neither inquires into the title of Tiberius to the throne of the 
empire, nor the right of the empire to rule over Judea. He 
simply asks, " Whose is this image and superscription ? " that 
is, what is the government actually established ? and he 
commands them 'to render to that government its due. I do 
not say that Christianity forbids us to entertain preferences in 
regard to the forms of government. I do not say that Chris- 
tianity does not create a tendency to free institutions. I firmly 
believe that it does. Teaching universal equality of right, it 
could not do otherwise. All the true freedom on earth springs 
essentially from the gospel. It is intended, however, to im- 
prove the condition of civil society, not by revolution and 
bloodshed, but by instilling into our bosoms a spirit of piety 
towards God, and of justice and mercy towards men. While 
Christianity is doing this, it is rendering good government 
necessary, and bad government impracticable. In the mean 
time, it treats every existing government in obedience to the 
precept given in the text. The civil authority is established ; 
the image is stamped, and the superscription is engraved. 
The evidence of the actual existence of this authority is in 
the hands of every man. Its precept then is, Render to 
30 



350 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

society, as represented by the magistracy of its choice, what- 
ever society can rightfully claim. Such I understand to be 
the teaching of Jesus Christ. 

This is, however, only a part of our Savior's precept. The 
remainder is at least equally important. " Render unto God 
the things that are Goers." That is, Ccesar may claim things 
which belong to God, and these must never be rendered to 
Caesar. While the Lord expressly teaches the duty of obe- 
dience to the civil magistrate, he forewarns his disciples that 
cases may arise in which such obedience would be treason 
against God. " Thus," saith he, " they will deliver you up to 
the councils, and will scourge you in the synagogues, and you 
shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for 
a testimony against them and the Gentiles. What I tell you 
in darkness, that speak ye in the light, and what ye hear in 
the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. And fear not 
them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but 
rather fear Him that is able to destroy both soul and body in 
hell." And the manner in which the apostles understood 
this commandment of our Lord, we -may learn very clearly 
from their conduct immediately after his resurrection. When 
Peter and John were forbidden by the Sanhedrim to speak at 
all or to teach in the name of Jesus, they answered, " Whether 
it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than 
unto God, judge ye ; for we cannot but speak the things which 
we have seen and heard." And when they were discharged 
from arrest, the burden of their prayer was, "And now, Lord, 
behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that 
with all boldness they may speak thy word." A few days 
afterwards, they were again arrested, and the high priest asked 
them, saying, " Did we not strictly command you, that ye 
should not teach in this name ? and behold, ye have filled 
Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's 
blood upon us." * To this accusation, the noble reply of the 

* They had arraigned the civil magistrate before the bar of Eternal 
Justice. " Him ye have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified 
and slain." 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 351 

apostle was merely this : " We ought to obey God rather than 
men ; " and he forthwith began to preach to the high priest 
himself the same gospel which he had been forbidden to 
preach among the people. 

Here, then, the disciple of Christ seems to be furnished 
with two apparently opposite rules of conduct. By the first 
he is commanded to obey the civil magistrate, without asking 
many of the questions which men are commonly disposed to 
ask on this subject. By the second, he is commanded to pay 
no respect to the civil magistrate whatever, but to act just as 
he would if such a magistracy did not exist. How, .then, are 
we to harmonize these two apparently conflicting precepts ? 
When are we to obey, and when are we to disobey ? 

This seeming contradiction can only be explained by sup- 
posing that the authority of society, and of government, which 
is its agent, is a limited authority. This is intimated in the 
words of the text, " Render unto Csesar the things which are 
Cccsar^s ; " that is, there are certain things which are not 
Caesar's, and to which he can claim no right. The authority 
of the magistracy is conferred for definite and specified 
objects, and it must accomplish these objects by innocent 
means. So long as it confines itself to its appropriate objects, 
and seeks to accomplish them by innocent means, Jesus Christ 
commands us to yield to it implicit obedience. When, on the 
other hand, it undertakes to accomplish objects for which no 
authority has been conferred upon it, or attempts to accom- 
plish them by means which Christ has forbidden, the gospel 
imposes upon us no obligation to obey it ; nay, it may com- 
mand us to disobey it. 

This distinction renders it necessary for us to inquire, What 
are the legitimate objects for the accomplishment of which 
civil government is established ? To this question let us 
briefly direct our attention. 

The great object for which civil government is established 
among men, I suppose to be, to protect every man in the 
enjoyment of those rights which have been conferred upon 
him by his Creator. 



352 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

Every man is conscious that he is an independent moral 
agent, responsible to God for the use of the powers with which 
he is endowed, and at liberty, so far as man is concerned, to 
use them as he will, provided he do not interfere with the cor- 
respondent rights of his neighbor. The muscles, the sinews, 
the senses, the whole body of a man, are his own ; and, pro- 
vided he use them without injury to another, he may use them 
as he will. He has a perfect right to the natural results arising 
from the labor of his body, in what manner soever that labor 
may have been employed. His mind is his own. He may 
acquire with it such knowledge as he chooses, and, under the 
limitation above suggested, may disseminate that knowledge as 
he pleases among his fellow-men. He has a right to obey 
with perfect freedom the dictates of his conscience, that is, to 
worship God in such manner as he pleases, or not to worship 
him at all. The worshipping or the not worshipping cannot 
come under the cognizance of the civil magistrate, so long as 
the man refrains from infringement upon the rights of his 
neighbor. 

But it is found that men are not naturally disposed to obey 
Ihcse obvious dictates of justice. Every man is more or less 
disposed to appropriate to himself the property or labor of 
another, to restrict him in the use of his mind, or to control the 
exercise of his conscience. As the indulgence of these dispo- 
sitions would lead to universal war, society is ordained by God 
to prevent it. Its object is to oblige every man to use the 
means of happiness which God has conferred upon him, in 
such a manner that he shall not interfere with any of the cor- 
respondent means of happiness which God has conferred upon 
his neighbor. Though every man might be willing to encroach 
upon the rights of his brother, no man is willing himself to 
suffer encroachment, nor is he willing to tolerate encroach- 
ment in another. Hence men instinctively unite in societies 
for the purpose of mutual restraint. They naturally place 
themselves under the protection of society, that thus the rights 
of the individual may be guarantied to him by the combined 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 353 

power of the whole. Every man turns to society as the 
umpire whenever he believes that his rights have been invaded 
by his neighbor. Society, on the other hand, assumes the 
office, pronounces the award, and pledges its whole power to 
carry it into execution. 

It is for the accomplishment of these purposes that the 
various forms of the civil magistracy are, ordained. The 
legislature enacts the laws ; that is, it declares what are the 
rights of the individual, and what shall be the penalty if they 
be violated. The judiciary ascertains whether or not a law 
has been violated, and pronounces the sentence which the 
law has affixed to the transgression. The executive carries 
into effect the decision of the judiciary. Here the great 
function of civil society ends. This is, I think, the view of 
the subject entertained by the authors of the Declaration of 
Independence. " We hold these truths to be self-evident ; 
that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these 
are life, liberty, and the 'pursuit of happiness ; that to secure 
these rights governments are instituted among men.'''' Such, 
then, is the paramount object for which the magistracy is 
appointed of God. 

I have said that civil society assumes the responsibility of 
protecting the rights of the individual. Having assumed this 
duty, it is under obligation to discharge it. If it cannot be 
discharged without the use of force, it is authorized to use 
force to the extent which the obligation that it has assumed 
renders necessary. In order to prevent wrong, it has a right 
to summon to its aid the assistance of every citizen, and he is 
bound to render it. Every individual is a member of that 
society which has promised to secure to his brother the enjoy- 
ment of those rights bestowed upon him by his Creator ; and 
that promise every man is under moral obligation to redeem. 

In all this, I think I have but enforced the doctrine of the apos- 
tle Paul, in the thirteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans : 
" Let every soul be subject to the higher powers ; for there 
30* 



354 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of 
God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resistcth the 
ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to them- 
selves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, 
but to the evil. Wilt thou, then, not be afraid of the power ? 
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. 
For he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou 
do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword 
in vain ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute 
wrath upon him that doeth evil." 

But we may carry this principle a single step farther. I 
have shown that it is the duty of the society to protect the 
individual against injury from another member of the same 
society. But suppose that he is exposed to injury from a 
member of another society, — is he not entitled to the same 
protection ? It seems to me that he is ; and that the society to 
which he belongs is bound to protect him, whether he be 
assailed by one or by many. It is the duty of the society to 
which he belongs to restrain him from inflicting injury upon all 
other ?nen, and to prevent all other men from inflicting injury 
upon him. Here, however, it is to be remarked, that the use 
of force can only be justified when employed for the preven- 
tion of injury, when directed towards the injurious person 
alone, and when employed to no greater extent than the 
accomplishment of the purpose renders necessary. 

But besides this, the great object for which civil govern- 
ment is established, there are various other objects, which, for 
the sake of convenience, are, by common consent, committed 
to its care. Thus, for instance, it is found that common 
education can be much more successfully conducted by public 
than by private effort. The care of highways, of harbors, and 
many of the most important aids to civilization, are most 
properly left to the same agency. Every man receives the 
benefit of such arrangements, and hence every man may 
properly be obliged to bear his portion of the burden. 

The cost of conducting all these departments of government 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 355 

must be defrayed by taxes, or some other form of imposition 
Our share of this cost belongs properly to Csesar, and a Chris- 
tian is bound, by the principles not. only of common honesty, 
but also of his religion, to render it even to the uttermost 
farthing. The blessings of a good government are absolutely 
incalculable. Shall any man ask to be a partaker in these 
blessings, and be unwilling to pay his portion of that expense 
by which they are procured ? Can that man be honest, who 
would send his children to a public school, and refuse to pay 
his proportion of the tax for the support of education ? Can 
he be a disciple of Christ who shrinks from bearing his part 
of the cost of repairing a road which he uses in common with 
his neighbors, or of lighting a public lamp of which he enjoys 
with them an equal and common benefit ? 

The apostolic precept on this subject is clear and explicit. 
" For this cause," (that is, for conscience' sake,) " pay ye 
tribute also, for they are God's ministers, attending continually 
upon this very thing. Render, therefore, to all their dues; 
tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear 
to whom fear, honor to whom honor." 

The precept of our Lord, however, goes farther than this, 
and teaches us that a Christian is not to limit his public service 
to the strict line of equity, but is to go farther, and set an 
example of enlarged public spirit. It encourages us to do 
more than can rightfully be demanded of us, so that we may 
by example cultivate a spirit of disinterested zeal for the 
general good. The precept of Jesus Christ is this : " If a man 
compel thee to go with him one mile, go with him two." The 
words here spoken allude to compulsory public service. In 
the time of our Lord, the public despatches were carried by 
officers of government, who had the power to compel any 
citizen to leave his occupation and forward them on their 
journey. The teaching of our Lord would then be something- 
like the following : The public service can be done only by 
the assistance of every citizen in his turn. In all such cases, 
do your own part willingly. But be not content with diis. Be 



356 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

ready and willing at all times to do more than can in strictness 
be required of you. You thus set an example of voluntarily 
doing good to the public. To cultivate this spirit is to lay 
deeply and securely the foundation of all public improvement. 
You will thus render it evident that you act, not for yourselves, 
but for others ; and men, seeing your good works, will glorify 
your Father who is in heaven. 

You all see how widely extended is the application, and how 
ennobling is the practice, of this precept. Let me suggest a 
few cases by way of exemplification. I frequently hear Chris- 
tians, as well as other men, excusing themselves from serving 
as jurors, on account of the irksomeness of the duty, or the 
pressure of their private avocations. This is a violation of 
the precept of the text. The duty belongs unto Caesar, and to 
Caesar must it be rendered. We must bear our portion of this 
service, or we disobey Christ. If we refuse to perform it, we 
are guilty of injustice to our fellow-men. If our property or 
character is at stake, we expect them to do their part in pro- 
tecting us from wrong. They have a right to claim that we 
shall perform the same service for them. It is an act of very 
stupid selfishness, to leave the most important judicial duty in 
the hands of men whose time is utterly valueless. 

For the same reason I think that every Christian citizen is 
under obligation to vote in every case where a public officer is 
to be chosen. The happiness and virtue of the community, 
no less than the security of property, depend greatly on the 
character of the magistracy. If I am injured in person or 
property by a wicked public officer, I have a right to com- 
plain of my fellow-citizens who gave him authority over me, 
or who, when it was in their power, did not prevent his elec- 
tion. A Christian, in this country, above all others, has a duty 
to perform in this matter, and he disobeys the commandment 
in the text if he does not perform it. 

The same principles teach us, that there can be nothing 
more diametrically at variance with the precepts of the gospel 
than any attempt to defraud the revenue. He who does this 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 357 

knowingly and wickedly, disobeys the precept, " Render unto 
Csesar the things that are Caesar's." He withholds from the 
public what belongs to the public. He receives the full benefit 
of protection, and refuses to pay his share of what that pro- 
tection costs. Nay, he is guilty of a double injustice. He 
realizes to himself an exorbitant profit, the wages of unright- 
eousness, while he is able to undersell, and, it may be, ruin 
his honest neighbor, who, in an upright public spirit, is obeying 
the law of Christ. I need scarcely add, that overcharging the 
public, the waste of public property, and all the modes by 
which the post-office is defrauded of its due, come under the 
same condemnation. 

I have thus endeavored to show what are the legitimate 
objects of civil government, and what are the duties which 
the ordaining of this government imposes upon a disciple of 
Christ. It is proper, however, that I remark, before closing 
this part of the subject, that a government, in carrying forward 
these objects, is ever amenable, like an individual, to the law 
of right. The goodness of the end will never justify wicked- 
ness in the means. Societies, as much as individuals, are bound 
to yield obedience to the commands of God. It is only when 
the objects of a government are right, and the means by which 
they are accomplished are innocent, that it can demand, on the 
principles of the gospel, the aid and cooperation of the disciple 
of Christ. Acting in obedience to these principles, the magis- 
tracy may claim the obedience of the Christian citizen, not 
from fear, but for conscience' sake, and from the love which 
he bears to the Savior, who loved him and gave himself for 
him. 



THE DUTY OP OBEDIENCE TO THE 
CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 



PART II 



" Render therefore unto Caesar tiie things that are Caesar's, 
and unto God the things that are God's." 

Matthew xxii. 21. 

In the preceding discourse, I have endeavored to show that 
every disciple of Christ is under imperative obligations to obey 
the civil magistrate, so long as the civil magistrate obeys the 
social and moral laws by virtue of which his office has been 
created. While the magistracy employs itself in the adminis- 
tration of justice, in the protection of innocence, and the pun- 
ishment of crime, and in the discharge of those duties, which, 
for the sake of convenience, the public has voluntarily confided 
to it, Christ commands us not merely to yield it our obedience, 
but to proffer to it our cheerful and disinterested support. We 
may not too closely scrutinize the extent of our obligation for 
the selfish purpose of ascertaining how little we may do and 
yet escape censure. We are to look upon civil society as one 
of our greatest sublunary blessings, and we must cherish, and 
succor, and sustain it, not from wrath, (the fear of wrath,) but 
for conscience' sake ; not because physical force would, if 
necessary, compel us, but because we thus most effectually 
subserve the interests of good order and happiness, of virtue 
and religion. 

So much as this, then, the gospel commands, in respect to 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 359 

our obedience to civil government. Beyond this I know r_ot 
that it utters any command whatever. The acts, therefore, 
the laws, the requirements of civil society, like the acts, the 
laws, the requirements of the church, or of any other society, 
are amenable to the tribunal of reason, and conscience, and the 
word of God. The Christian is at liberty to inquire whether 
any act of the government transgresses the limit within which 
its action is, by reason and revelation, restricted ; and yet 
more, to determine, concerning eveiy one of its actions, whether 
it be right or wrong. At liberty, did I say ? He is more than 
at liberty, — he is obliged thus to inquire and to determine. He 
is a party to every act of the society of which he is a member. 
He is an intelligent moral agent, responsible to God for his 
actions, whether they be personal or associated, and therefore 
he must think about civil government, and act about it, accord- 
ing to the light which God has given him, all things else to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

I therefore, as a Christian citizen, look upon the civil gov- 
ernment and the civil magistracy with as unblenching an eye as 
I look upon any thing else. In simplicity and godly sincerity, 
not in the spirit of strife or partisanship, I may pronounce my 
opinion upon its enactments and measures, just as I would 
express my opinions in any other case. I see in presidents, 
cabinets, senators, representatives, and all the array of the 
civil magistracy, nothing but men, fallible men, of like passions 
with myself. Every page of the history of the past has shown 
that men placed in such situations have been exceedingly prone 
to err and to do wickedly. I cannot, therefore, worship men 
in power. In so far as they are virtuous men, I love them. In 
so far as they are able men, I respect them. In so far as, with 
an honest and true heart, they labor to discharge the solemn 
duties to which they have been appointed, I honor and I ven- 
erate them. I will pay all due deference to the offices which 
they hold, and will bow with seemly respect to the men who 
hold them. These men are to me the representatives on earth 
of eternal justice and unsullied truth ; and may my arm fall 



360 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

palsied from my shoulder-blade when I refuse to raise it in 
token of respect to him who is called of God to minister under 
so solemn a responsibility. 

But all this veneration is due, not to the man, but to the 
magistrate ; and it is due to him, therefore, only so long as he 
confines himself to the duties of his office, and discharges them 
with pure and patriotic intentions. I have a right to inquire 
whether his actions in his office conform to the principles of 
justice. He must claim for himself no immunity from scru- 
tiny on account of the dignity of his station. If he use the 
power committed to him for any other purpose than that for 
which it was committed ; if he prostitute his official influence 
to pander to the wishes of a political party ; if he sacrifice the 
gravest interests of his country for the sake of securing to 
himself the emoluments of office ; if he trample the national 
honor in the dust in order to minister to the grasping selfish- 
ness of a contemptible clique, — that moment every vestige of 
his sacredness is gone forever. He stands before me like 
Samson from the lap of Delilah. Shake himself as he may, it 
matters not to me, — his strength is departed from him. But 
this is not all : not only is his official sacredness departed, — he 
has become to me the most odious of despicable men. He has 
sacrificed his country to his lusts. He has bartered away the 
well-being of millions for food to nourish his vices. Whether 
in office or out of it, whether powerful or powerless, I can look 
upon him henceforth with no other feelings than those of pity 
and disgust. 

But this may become a yet more practical matter. The 
magistrate may not only do wrong himself, but he may com- 
mand me to do wrong. How shall I regard this command ? I 
will regard it as I do any other command to do wrong, — I will 
not obey it. I will look the magistracy calmly and respect- 
fully in the face, and declare to it that in this matter I owe it 
no allegiance. I will have nothing to do with its wrong-doing. 
I will separate myself, as far as possible, from the act and its 
consequences, whether they be prosperous or adverse. It is 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 361 

wickedness ; it has the curse of God inwrought into it, and I 
will have nothing to do with it. From the beginning to the 
end, I will eschew it, and the rewards that it offers. The 
magistracy may punish me ; I cannot help that. I will not 
resist, but I will not do wrong, nor will I be a party to wrong, 
let the magistracy or aught else command me. 

In saying this, I hope that I arrogate to myself nothing in 
the least peculiar. I am only in the plainest and simplest 
manner stating the rights and obligations of an intelligent 
moral being, accountable to God for his actions, and bound to 
reverence his Creator above all else in the universe. Created 
under such a responsibility, can I transfer the allegiance which 
I owe to God, to legislative assemblies, to political caucuses, 
to mass meetings, to packed or unpacked conventions repre- 
senting or pretending to represent the assumed omnipotence 
of public opinion ? My whole moral nature with loathing for- 
bids it. I could not do it without feeling that I had become a 
despicable slave. I could not do it without knowing that I had 
exchanged the glorious and incorruptible God for an image 
made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four-footed 
beasts and creeping things r and worshipped the creature more 
than the Creator, who is blessed forever. My fellow-citizens 
must not ask this of me ; I will surrender, for my country, my 
possessions, my labor, my life, but I will not sacrifice my 
integrity ; and that is unworthy of being the country of a good 
man which shall ask it. 

But here it seems proper that I illustrate more clearly the 
nature of that limit, beyond which the Christian obligation of 
obedience to the magistrate ceases. I proceed to offer a few 
suggestions on this part of our subject. 

I have said that the great end for which civil society is 
established, and the magistracy appointed, is, to secure to man 
the enjoyment of those rights with which he was endowed 
by his Creator. If society or the magistracy interfere with 
those rights, it is tyranny. If its acts transcend the limits of 
the authority committed to it, it is guilty of usurpation. In 
31 



362 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

neither of these cases does the gospel of Jesus Christ com- 
mand us to render to it obedience. 

The civil magistrate has frequently persecuted men even 
unto death for believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here he 
not only does not secure the enjoyment of an inalienable right, 
— he goes farther and actually prohibits it. He demands of 
the conscience that it bow down to him rather than to its Maker. 
I need not repeat here the precepts of Christ which I have 
already quoted in reference to this subject. You all know 
that we are commanded under such circumstances, on the 
peril of our souls, to pay no respect to the precepts of the 
magistracy. " Fear not," saith our Lord, " those that kill the 
body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him that 
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Here, then, is 
a plain case, in which the magistrate, by inhibiting instead of 
securing the rights conferred on man by his Creator, has for- 
feited his claim to obedience ; I do not say to all obedience, 
but to obedience in just so far as his commands interfere with 
the rights of man or the commandments of God. 

The magistrate may also forfeit his claim to obedience by 
usurpation, that is, by employing his official power for other 
purposes than those for which it was committed to him. One 
of the most common instances of this form of wrong is found 
in the case of war. To this case let us direct our attention. 

1 have already remarked that the supreme power is con- 
ferred on the magistracy for the purpose of securing to every 
individual the rights conferred on him by the Creator. I have 
also said that in the exercise of this power the magistracy may 
defend the individual against wrong, whether it be offered by 
its own citizens or by strangers. It may, consistently with 
this principle, use force in order to extend its protection to 
innocence, if it can accomplish this purpose by no other 
means. But, while all this is admitted, we are carefully to 
observe the limitations with which this admission is guarded. 

The object for which this power is conferred is, to secure to 
the citizen the enjoyment of his rights. Hence, for no other 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 363 

object can the resort to force, on Christian principles, be justi- 
fied. The only persons whom this object regards are the evil- 
doers themselves ; hence, against no others can force be directed. 
The object being the protection of rights, as soon as this object 
is accomplished, the reason for the employment of force ceases. 
Such are, I think, the limits within which the employment of 
force by a government is, by the Christian religion and the 
principles of civil society, manifestly restricted. 

Thus, suppose that a company of men should land upon our 
shores, for the purpose of destroying our property, or pillaging 
our houses, or murdering our brethren. We and our fellow- 
citizens have mutually promised to protect each other in the 
enjoyment of our rights. We are, therefore, bound to protect 
them. W T e may rightfully unite together, and, if it be neces- 
sary, repel the wrong-doers by force of arms. But, in this 
case, our object recognizes no other persons than the wrong- 
doers themselves. Their wives, their children, their innocent 
fellow-citizens, have done us no harm, and we have no author- 
ity to inflict injury upon them. If it be said that in perpetrat- 
ing wrong they only obey the commands of their government, 
I reply, they are moral and accountable men, and have no 
right to obey a wicked command. All that is necessary in 
order to protect our rights is, to repel the invader ; and hence 
our object allows us to employ force to no greater extent than 
is demanded for the accomplishment of this object. 

Again : as soon as our object is accomplished, and our rights 
are no longer endangered, all reason for contention ceases. 
We wish the wrong-doer no harm. We have no desire of 
vengeance to gratify. Our object is not to harm him, but 
only to protect ourselves. He is still our brother, though 
he has intended evil against us. This danger being now 
averted, we will again treat him as a brother, and overcome 
evil by good. We will turn his enmity to friendship, and thus 
all strife between us must by necessity forever cease. 

Again : it is, I think, evident that our rights are of very 
different degrees of importance, and therefore justify very 



364 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

dissimilar efforts to enforce them. The right to life and liberty 
is very unlike our right to property. The invasion of the one 
would authorize us to use means of redress, which could not 
be authorized by the invasion of the other. I may have the 
right to repel a murderer at the risk of his life, but this by 
no means would justify me in slaying a man, because he owed 
me a dollar, or entering his house by force of' arms and seizing 
upon his property at the risk of the destruction of his family. 
"We are reasonable, accountable, and sinful men. It becomes 
us, who owe a thousand talents, not to press too eagerly the 
payment of a hundred pence. There is, in our circumstances, 
much that persuades to forbearance and charity, both as indi- 
viduals and as members of a community. It is surely better 
to suffer loss than to reclaim our property at the sacrifice of 
that which is of infinitely higher value. This principle of con- 
duct must certainly approve itself to every virtuous man. 

Were this principle universally adopted, wars would very 
soon cease altogether. National force would never be em- 
ployed except for the sake of protecting the citizen from 
injury. In no greater degree than was necessary for the 
accomplishment of this object would force be employed. No 
one but the wrong-doer would suffer, and as soon as his wrong- 
doing terminated, the employment of force would cease. 
These principles of action restrict the infliction of pain within 
the smallest possible limits, and thus they are in harmony with 
the attributes of a just and all-merciful God. 

But, in granting this, do we admit the innocence of war, as 
it is at present carried on between nations ? The two concep- 
tions scai-cely resemble each other in any single respect, except 
that in both cases physical force is employed. The sheriff 
who arrests a criminal, and the highwayman who robs a trav- 
eller, both employ physical foi'ce to accomplish their object; yet 
we should hardly designate their acts by the same term. The 
one is a righteous and the other an unrighteous employment 
of force, and to concede the necessity of one, is by no means 
to admit the rectitude of the other. A declaration of war 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 365 

not only authorizes us to repel an invader, but it abolishes all 
the relations of peace between two whole nations, and substi- 
tutes in their place the relations of enmity unto death. It 
henceforth becomes the duty of our national force to destroy 
the lives and the property of our brethren whom we declare 
to be our enemies, to any extent that the prosecution of the 
war may render expedient. The more universal the slaughter, 
and the more terrific the destruction of property, the greater 
is the glory which we ascribe to the transaction. Innocent 
and guilty, combatants and non-combatants, men, women and 
children, are mingled in one common calamity, and our most 
gratifying success is that, in which, with the smallest loss to 
ourselves, we inflict the greatest misery upon our brethren. 
Can the right of self-protection, any more than the precepts of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ, ever justify atrocities such as these ? 

But this is only a part. The very declaration of war ex- 
poses us to all the calamities which we would inflict upon 
others. For this result we ourselves must be prepared. Every 
individual becomes in effect a soldier, liable at any moment 
to be led into battle. Military law supersedes all other law, 
whenever they come into collision. We, in fact, become par- 
ties in a war, and we must suffer the evils of the condition 
which we have chosen, We desire to inflict misery to the 
greatest extent upon our enemy, and we must prepare our- 
selves to receive at his hands whatever misery he can inflict 
upon us. Can any one believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, and 
not perceive that all this must be atrocious wickedness ? 

To illustrate this subject, let us suppose a case, which is not 
by any means without a parallel. A few months since, and 
we were at peace with all the world. We wished evil to none 
of our brethren of the human race, and none of them wished 
evil to us. Our property, wherever it might wander for the 
purposes of commerce, was every where protected by the arm 
of peaceful and universal law. On the other hand, the prop- 
erty and the lives of all our brethren of the human race were 
as safe under the guardianship of our constitution as under that 
31* 



366 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

of their own. Every good citizen felt it to be a point of honor 
to respect the rights of his neighbor, though he were separated 
from us by the diameter of the globe. 

Suppose, now, that war were declared by this nation against 
Great Britain, and all these conditions would be, by a single 
word, reversed. The property of both parties ceases to be 
under the protection of international law. Each nation sweeps 
the ocean with its fleets, and each confiscates, and destroys by 
hundreds of millions, the property of the other. We exult in 
the misery which we inflict upon our correspondents, our 
friends, our relatives, and derive pleasure from the perpetration 
of indiscriminate slaughter. We send fleets and armies to 
devastate their coasts. We subject Liverpool to bombardment, 
and destroy its unoffending inhabitants by thousands ; we ad- 
vance to Manchester, and put to the sword every citizen who 
defends his home from our ravages, and prosecute the work of 
destruction until resistance ceases, or we ourselves are over- 
powered. The greater our skill in the work of desolation, and 
the greater the number of human beings whom we can slaugh- 
ter, the greater is our glory ; and at every report of wholesale 
murder, there arises from a hundred cities the peal of national 
exultation. But the work of death is not confined to one of 
the parties. The forces of Great Britain are landed at Boston. 
That beautiful city is reduced to a heap of ruins. Young and 
old, innocent and guilty, parents and children, are involved in 
one common desolation. An army, flushed with conquest and 
maddened by resistance, pursues its course to New York, and 
there, on a larger scale, a similar scene is enacted. Shells and 
shot do the work of death, until resistance ceases, and the city 
is surrendered up to the lusts of a brutal soldiery. And as the 
army moves in its gigantic force over our country, sweeping 
before it our flying and terrified people, destroying in its course 
whatever could be used for the purposes of defence, and con- 
signing to instant death every man who defends himself or 
his property from aggression, each successive slaughter is 
chronicled by Englishmen as a victory ; the leaders in this 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 367 

desolation are crowned with honors, and the cities in Great 
Britain blaze with illumination as they hear that tens of thou- 
sands of us their brethren are slain, that our hearths are 
steeped in blood, that our wives are widows, and our children 
fatherless. 

Were the calamities which nations inflict upon each other 
in war to result from the agency of Divine Providence, what 
would be the feelings with which we should contemplate them ? 
Suppose that an earthquake should work the destruction which 
we accomplish by a bombardment ; that a tempest should sink 
our merchant ships, instead of a hostile fleet; that a hurricane, 
instead of an army, should sweep over the land, scattering des- 
olation in its path, and covering field after field with the thou- 
sands of the slain ; what would be the moral sentiments with 
which we should contemplate such a succession of disasters ? 
The whole land would stand aghast at this strange work of the 
Almighty. The infidel would construct from it an argument 
to prove that a just Being could never have involved the inno- 
cent and the guilty in so frightful a common calamity ; and 
the ministers of religion would be called upon, Sabbath after 
Sabbath, to silence the rebellion of the human heart, " to assert 
eternal providence and justify the ways of God to man." 
And can any thing be more atrocious than for us to work out a 
destruction so universal and so indiscriminate that natural con- 
science is staggered while she allows that the Eternal has the 
authority to inflict it ? Can the right of self-defence ever justify 
atrocity such as this? Did we ever concede to government 
the right to perpetrate so measureless a crime ? It is in vain to 
say that, in giving to the magistracy the power to protect our 
citizens, all this power is also surrendered. That power was 
granted for a given purpose, and for no other, and it was limited 
within correspondent restrictions. The magistrate is clothed 
with the power of life and death, so that he may defend us 
against injury from each other ; but this by no means confers 
upon him the right to cut us off at his pleasure by indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter. He is authorized to use the national force, in 



368 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

order to defend us from external injury ; but this confers upon 
him no authority to use that force for the purpose of conquest. 
The guilt of such an abuse of power is enormous, when war is 
provoked by the infliction of aggravated injury ; but how 
greatly is this guilt increased when it is waged for insufficient 
cause, and yet more in the perpetration of atrocious wrong ! 

War has nevertheless been frequently carried on for the pur- 
pose of extending religious sentiments or political institutions. 
Wars for the sake of what is called religion, have in former 
times been frequent. Of late, millions of men have been slain 
in the contest between monarchy and republicanism. Such 
was the character of the wars of the French revolution. Still 
later, it has been urged that a war may be waged by one nation 
upon another in order to enlarge the area of freedom, and it 
has also been pleaded that freedom may most successfully be 
extended by enlarging the domain of slavery. 

It is obvious that every one of these reasons carries the mark 
of reprobation deeply branded upon its front. We have no 
right to interfere either by force or by intrigue with the religious 
sentiments or political institutions of another nation. If we 
possess this right, every other nation possesses, and may exer- 
cise it as freely as ourselves. The result of such an admission 
would be to declare the innocence of universal war, and to 
assert the right of murdering any man who does not think as 
we do. I ask, Is not this something very different from tho 
right of self-defence ? 

Again : wars are sometimes waged for the sake of con- 
quest. The soil of a neighboring nation is rich, or her 
harbors are commodious, and our power may be increased 
by adding them to our possessions. If we are the stronger 
party, we can generally find pretexts to cover our all-grasping 
covetousness ; and if all other reasons fail, we may always 
plead our irresistible destiny, and thus cast the blame of our 
wickedness upon the perfections of the Most High. But can 
such a transaction, though it could be perfected without blood- 
shed, be designated by any other name than robbery ? and is 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 389 

there any more predestination about robbery than about any 
other crime ? Does our desire for our neighbor's possessions 
give us any right to our neighbor's possessions ? If desire 
confer right, it confers it upon all nations, and to admit this 
would be to admit the right of universal destruction. What 
shall we say, then, when this iniquitous passion for territory 
is gratified at the expense of indiscriminate slaughter ? Can 
we conceive of a more diabolical wickedness, than a war 
waged in the cause of national robbery ? 

But I go farther : I ask, Was the power of waging such a 
war, and for such purposes, ever intended to be conferred 
upon a government ? Can it ever be conferred ? Can man, 
under any circumstances, authorize his brother to do wicked- 
ness ? Can any man offer the authority of his fellow-man in 
justification of wrong-doing ? But I ask again, Was such 
authority ever given ? I know that people have frequently 
conferred upon governments the power to declare and to 
carry on war. But did a people ever confer on a govern- 
ment the authority to carry on a war for the purpose of ex- 
tending religious belief, or of establishing political institutions, 
or of increasing territorial dominion ? Have we ever con- 
ferred this power upon our government ? If, when our con- 
stitution was framed, this power had been asked for, would it 
ever have been granted ? To these questions I apprehend 
but one answer can be returned by any thoughtful man. 

I think, then, it must be evident that the right of self- 
defence in no manner involves the right to wage war as it is 
commonly waged between nations. The objects pursued in 
the two cases are entirely unlike, and the means of attaining 
them are widely dissimilar. For the accomplishment of one 
object, authority may be granted, but it cannot rightfully be 
granted for the accomplishment of the other. The well-being 
of society may require that in the one case this power be 
conferred upon the magistrate, while to concede it in the 
other would be to consign the race of man to universal and 
interminable war. The principles of the gospel may permi 



370 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

us to defend our fellow-citizens from injury, but we cannot 
inflict injury upon others without bringing down upon our- 
selves the judgments of a God who judges righteously. 

In the previous discourse I endeavored to illustrate the 
object for which civil government was established, and to 
enforce the duty of cheerful obedience to it so long as its 
action was limited to the accomplishment of its legitimate 
object. In the present discourse I have attempted to show 
that a government may use unlawfully the power with which 
it is intrusted ; that it may assume a power which neither 
social principles nor the written constitution ever conceded 
to it, and that it may, in doing this, also commit an act of 
atrocious wickedness. The question then arises, What is the 
course of conduct which the precepts of Jesus Christ pre- 
scribe for the citizen ? To this part of the subject I propose 
to direct your attention in the following discourse. 



THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE 
CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 



PART III. 



"Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, 
and unto God the things that are God's." 

Matthew xxii. 21. 

The question to be considered in this discourse is this : 
What is the duty of a Christian citizen, when he believes 
that the government of his country is engaged in the per- 
petration of wickedness ? 

I suppose that I need not here refer to the fact that a dis- 
ciple of Christ acknowledges the law of God to be of infi- 
nitely higher authority than the command of man. And 
when I say man, I use the term generically. I do not mean 
a single man, but man under what forms of combination 
soever he may be associated. Ecclesiastical societies, civil 
societies, political parties, combinations for the purpose of 
amassing wealth or consolidating power, utter nothing but 
the voice of man, weak, selfish, depraved, and erring man ; 
and man weaker, more selfish, more depraved, and more 
liable to err, in consequence of the combination which blends 
the individuals too frequently into one soulless and unprin- 
cipled mass. It has been said, with too much practical truth, 
that corporate bodies have no conscience. Judge ye, then, 
how debasing must be the idolatry which obeys the commands 
of such an association, in defiance of the commands of God 
our Father Almighty ! 



372 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

In order to present this subject in a form as intelligible as 
possible, I will commence our discussion by stating a few 
propositions which I suppose must lie at the foundation of a 
correct decision in regard to it. 

1. It cannot, I think, be doubted that societies of all kinds 
are as liable to do wrong as the individuals of which they are 
composed. Merchants in partnership are as much exposed to 
the temptations of dishonesty as individual merchants. Incor- 
porated companies, banks, joint stock companies, men asso- 
ciated for the promotion of any object whatever, have never, 
that I know of, been considered immaculate. The same is 
true of nations. We, at least, have always believed that 
Great Britain was guilty of grievous wrong in her treatment 
of us when we were her colonies. She must have been thus 
guilty unless our Declaration of Independence is a falsity. 
It is, I suppose, universally conceded, that France exhibited 
a scene of atrocious wickedness during the period of her 
revolution, and throughout all the wars which commenced 
with and which succeeded it. I think that no one, acquainted 
with the facts in the case, can deny that our government has 
been guilty of grievous wrong in its treatment of many of 
the tribes of Indians on our western frontier, and especially 
in the removal by force of the Cherokee nation from their 
ancient homes and the burial-places of their fathers. 

2. I think it must be admitted that every member of a 
society is morally responsible for the wrongs committed by 
that society, unless he has used all the innocent means in his 
power to prevent them. Unless he have done this, he is a 
partaker in the wrong. It will constitute no valid excuse for 
him to plead that he was not the actual doer of the wrong, 
and that it was done by his agent. He who appoints an agent 
is, by every principle of law and of equity, responsible for 
his acts. Nor can we even plead in extenuation, that we, as 
members of the society, took no active part in the appoint- 
ment and direction of the agent. The wrong is done, and 
the wrong might have been- prevented by the exercise of 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTUATE. 373 

precisely such power as has been placed in our hands. Unless 
we have exerted that power for the prevention of wrong, whicn 
others have exerted in causing it to be committed, we are, on 
eveiy principle of right reason, responsible for the act, and are 
partakers of the guilt. 

This is the only rule, so far as T know, by which we esti- 
mate moral responsibility in all cases of association. If several 
men are united in a copartnership, we hold every one of them 
responsible for the acts of the firm, not only legally, but, under 
the conditions which I have specified, morally also. If one 
partner commit no act of dishonesty with his own hands, yet 
if he be cognizant of the dishonest acts of his associates, if he 
allow them to use his capital and then share with them the 
gains of wickedness, he is manifestly as guilty as they. Al- 
though he never told his clerk to defraud, yet if he see his 
clerk defraud at the command of his partners, and never put a 
stop to the villany, is he not as thorough a sharper as any one 
of his companions ? 

Such are the judgments which we invariably form in respect 
to the acts of a private association. Precisely the same prin- 
ciples guide our judgments respecting the obligations of a polit- 
ical society. A people is always held responsible for the acts 
of its government, be the form of that government what it 
may. No nation has ever maintained this doctrine more stren- 
uously than ourselves. We have demanded restitution for 
wrongs inflicted under the government of a usurper, or even 
under the temporary subjection of a nation to a foreign power. 
But if this be the law of national responsibility, it is manifest 
that it applies to us with greater stringency than to any other 
people on earth. We exercise, in its widest extent, the right to 
elect our own rulers. We elect them for short periods. We 
demand a full knowledge of all their public acts, and of the 
reasons which have led to all their decisions. We remove 
them whenever their acts displease us. We thus employ them 
as our agents. We claim to be principals, and we must by 
consequence assume all the responsibility of principals. "We 
32 



374 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

thus forever" shut ourselves out from the plea that we are not 
answerable for the acts of our rulers. No American citizen 
can ever offer this plea unless he has employed his constitu- 
tional power to its full extent for the prevention of national 
wrong-doing. 

Let us suppose, for instance, that the legislature of a state 
borrows money for the purpose of constructing works of inter- 
nal improvement. The question of effecting this loan was 
publicly discussed. It was believed to be a measure of great 
public utility. No citizen objected to it. The funds are 
received and appropriated, and the faith of the state is pledged 
for their redemption. The undertaking proves disastrous, or 
the loan is squandered by. unfaithful agents. The enterprise 
becomes unpopular. The legislature refuses to pay it, and the 
people sustain their refusal by declaring that they will not be 
taxed to redeem their bonds. Can there be a doubt that the 
citizen who suffers this wrong to be done, without uttering his 
solemn remonstrance, is a partaker in the guilt of the dis- 
honesty ? Can any man, under such circumstances, be inno- 
cent, unless he not only is willing to pay his portion of the 
debt, but also exert all the influence which he possesses to per- 
suade his fellow-citizens to be of the same opinion ? Nay, 
even this is not enough. He cannot free himself from the 
stain of dishonesty until he has used all the constitutional 
means in his power to secure the election of those rulers who 
will redeem the solemn pledges of the state, and reassure the 
world that the national honor is inviolate. 

3. It will, I presume, be admitted that the precepts of the 
gospel in no case whatever allow the disciple of Christ to be 
voluntarily a partaker, directly or indirectly, in the commission 
of wrong. This principle is of universal application. It 
governs us under all circumstances in which we can possib^^ 
be placed. It matters not whether the wrong be intended by 
an individual or by a society, whether we are to gain or to lose 
by the transaction. Our decision can be swayed neither by the 
terrors of power, nor by the allurements of affection ; neither 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 375 

by the frown of a tyrant, nor the frenzy of a mob. The 
disciple of Christ can bow down before nothing but right. We 
must hate father and mother, houses and lands, yea, and our 
own life also, for the sake of Christ. And Christ forewarns us 
that if we love him, we must keep his commandments in pref- 
erence to those of man, whether individual or social, and 
irrespective of the consequences which may follow from our 
obedience. " Fear not them," saith he, " that kill the body, 
and after that have nothing that they can do ; but fear Him who 
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Yea, I say unto 
you, fear him." 

But even this is, in fact, the operation of nothing more than 
a generally admitted moral principle. If there be any distinc- 
tion between virtue and vice, if guilt and innocence be not the 
mere figments of the nursery ; if man be endowed with a 
conscience by which he is allied to God, and by the possession 
of which he is rendered accountable to him ; if this life be a 
state of probation, and if every one of our actions here will 
continue to unfold its consequences after ages upon ages have 
rolled away ; if the favor of God be infinitely the greatest 
blessing, and his displeasure infinitely the direst curse, of which 
the mind of creatures can conceive, — then, surely, our moral 
obligations must take precedence of every other impulse, and 
we must do what we believe to be right, not only in the face 
of danger, but, if need be, in deliberate defiance of the power 
of the unanimous world. 

From these remarks it must, I think, appear evident, that 
every member of a society is guilty of the wrong-doing of 
that society, unless he has employed all the innocent means 
in his power to prevent it ; that the essential principles of the 
Christian religion forbid us to participate, directly or indi- 
rectly, in wrong-doing ; that they oblige us to put forth all 
the innocent means in our power to prevent it or to arrest its 
progress ; and if this last be impossible, they command us 
to withdraw from all participation in what we believe to be 
displeasing to God. 



376 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

Of the truth of these principles I think there can be no 
doubt. If I mistake not, they commend themselves to the 
reason and conscience of every man as soon as they are pre- 
sented. The only question that remains to be considered is 
this : In what manner do these principles limit our obedience to 
the civil magistrate ? or, in other words, how may we render 
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and yet shun participa- 
tion in the guilt of Caesar ? 

I inquire, first, Do the principles of the gospel permit us to 
resist by force the wrong-doing of our government ? This 
question may, I think, be easily answered by referring to 
the exposition previously given respecting the object of qivil 
society. Civil society is instituted for the purpose of securing 
to man the enjoyment of those rights with which he has been 
endowed by his Creator. So long as it discharges this its 
office, making all due allowance for human imperfection, and 
so long as this is its honest intention, we have no authority to 
resist it. When, on the contrary, it not only ceases to perform 
this its only office, but also employs its power in depriving *us 
of those rights conferred upon us by our Creator, then, in the 
view of reason and religion, it ceases to be a government. 

Destitute of moral principle, it is nothing but power without 
authority ; and we are justified in setting it aside, and con- 
structing a government in its place. For no other reason, so 
far as I perceive, are we justified in resisting by force that 
which performs the functions of government. The magistracy 
may err ; it may do wrong ; it may, in many respects, treat me 
unjustly ; it may treat foreign nations unjustly ; but none of this, 
nor all of it together, justifies me in resisting it by force, so 
long as it accomplishes, or honestly intends to accomplish, the 
purpose for which it was established. The government of 
Rome, in the times of Christ and his apostles, was exceedingly 
corrupt and oppressive ; and yet we find not a syllable in the 
New*Testament which would authorize a citizen to rebel 
against it, but very much that inculcates obedience to it in all 
things not forbidden by the commandments of God. 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 377 

If, then, we are forbidden to resist the civil magistracy by- 
force, in what manner may a Christian citizen innocently 
deliver himself from the guilt of wrong perpetrated by the 
government of his country ? To this question let us endeavor 
to return an intelligible answer. 

First. I presume it will be admitted that every man is bound 
to understand the nature of every question on which he gives an 
opinion ; especially when that opinion must lead to a practical 
result. This is as true of questions of public as of those of 
private concernment. If it be true in general, it is much more 
definitely true in those cases where we utter our constitutional 
opinion in the act of suffrage. If this be true of other gov- 
ernments, how much more emphatically is it true of our own! 
We have chosen a form of government in which all power 
emanates from the individual citizen. We declare, in the most 
unambiguous manner, that the officers of government are our 
agents, in all respects responsible to us their principals. If 
we claim the enjoyment of this right, we must not shrink from 
the responsibility which it imposes upon us. Can any thing 
be more obvious than this, that he who claims the right of 
directing the concerns of a community, is under a moral 
obligation to qualify himself for the discharge of the duty 
which he has voluntarily assumed ? 

When men unite in the establishment of a government, they 
mutually promise, in all their relations with each other, to yield 
obedience to certain fundamental principles. The object of 
these principles is, to define and limit the power of ike magis- 
tracy, and to prescribe the manner in which this power shall 
be exerted. The enunciation of these principles forms what 
is called a constitution. This being once established, it binds 
all and it protects all. It is a solemn and mutual contract 
between every individual on the one part, and the whole com- 
munity on the other part. Upon the faithful fulfilment of this 
contract depend the freedom of every individual and the 
security of his rights, whether civil or religious. We can 
neither assume powers not conferred upon us by this instru- 
32* 



378 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

merit, nor refuse to cany its provisions into practice, either 
ourselves or by our agents, without a violation of our solemn 
obligations. It matters not how overpowering the majority by 
whom the outrage is committed, nor how small the minority 
whose rights are infringed, nor how elevated the position of 
the functionary by whom the act is performed ; it is a crime 
of the deepest dye, and merits, and should meet, the sternest 
reprobation of eveiy virtuous man. If, then, such be the 
responsibility assumed by every citizen of a free government, 
it surely becomes him to understand the provisions of that 
instrument by which this responsibility is created. 

The same remarks apply essentially to those parts of the 
social compact by which our intercourse with foreign nations 
is regulated. We appoint public officers to conduct all our 
affairs with other countries. We prescribe the limits within 
which their power in this respect shall be exerted. We assert 
t£e right of directing our agents according to our own will, 
and hence we are responsible for their acts. This right we 
must exercise, unless we consent to become slaves rather than 
freemen. Should we allow our rulers to violate the rights of 
other nations, to involve us in wars according to their own will, 
not only should we be principals in the guilt of bloodshed, but, 
while we boast of the freedom of our institutions, we should 
in fact become the minions of a despot. 

Secondly. Supposing a Christian citizen to have made him- 
self acquainted with the principles of the constitution under 
which he lives, he is bound to apply these principles to the 
decision of every public measure on which he forms an opin- 
ion. The first question for him to ask in respect to every 
public act is this : Can this act be done without violation of the 
compact by which I and my fellow-citizens have promised to 
bind ourselves in our relations with each other? If the 
answer to this question be in the negative, no matter what 
may be the advantage to be secured, no matter how urgent 
may be the demands of a political party struggling for place, 
a Christian and an honest man must shrink back from the act 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 379 

with indignation. Or again : suppose that we find the power 
to have been committed to the magistrate, — it by no means 
follows that his manner of using it is in accordance with the 
compact. It may have been committed to him for one purpose, 
and he may use it for another. This is a violation of the 
contract, and against it we are bound to protect ourselves and 
our fellow-citizens. Take, as an illustration, the case of a 
declaration and prosecution of war. The authority to declare 
war is granted by us to our legislators. But for what purpose 
was this authority conferred ? Plainly for the purpose of 
defending us from aggression, and protecting us from injury. 
Was authority ever given by this people to their rulers to 
prosecute a war for conquest, or for glory, or to extend 
slavery, or to restrict it ? In the formation of our constitution, 
as I have said before, if such a power had been demanded, 
would it ever have been conceded ? Would not the concession 
of such a power have branded us at once as a nation of free- 
booters ? In such ways as these, I suppose, we are to apply 
the principles of the constitution to the decision of every 
public act. 

But this is not all. Suppose that the act be not in violation of 
the principles of the constitution, — we may yet inquire whether 
it be in violation of the principles of the gospel. Suppose a 
nation has given us cause of offence ; a disciple of Christ must 
ask himself, Can I be a party to measures which seek for the 
redress of grievance by means of the slaughter of tens of 
thousands of innocent persons, and the destruction of hundreds 
of millions of treasure — treasure earned by the bone and sinew 
of my fellow-men, whether friends or enemies ? Could I, in a 
matter of private grief, pursue my revenge in a similar man- 
ner? Every Christian, in the solitude of the closet, in the 
presence of his God, is bound to ask all these questions, and 
to answer them for himself. He must put far away from him 
the prejudice of sectional interests ; he must close his ears to 
the mandates of a political party, and calmly and resolutely 
form his opinions in the sight of the omniscient God, and in 



380 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

the Fill conviction that the result to which he shall arrive will 
meet him again in the day when the secrets of men's hearts 
shall be revealed. 

And now, supposing that, after such a review, a Christian 
shall be convinced that the acts of his government are in vio- 
lation of the compact from which all authority emanates, or at 
variance with the moral law which Christ has revealed to our 
race, — what then shall he do ? I answer, as a Christian, a citi- 
zen, and a freeman, he cannot be guiltless unless he put forth 
all his social and constitutional influence to prevent or to 
arrest it. 

If it be asked by what means can this be done, the answer 
is at hand. Having formed his opinions in obedience to moral 
principle, let him freely and fearlessly express them. It is 
thus alone that a virtuous and independent public opinion can 
be formed. We are bound to do this in obedience to the 
dictates of humanity. He who possesses knowledge which he 
believes to be valuable to the community, is under obligation to 
divulge it. The command of our Lord has made this our 
duty, under the most imperative sanction. " What I have told 
you in darkness, that speak ye in the light ; and what ye hear in 
the ear, that preach ye on the house-tops ; and fear not those 
that kill the body." And, indeed, unless this be done, by what 
means shall truth and righteousness make progress in the 
world ? The wicked labor without ceasing to extinguish moral 
light ; and if we, to whom its custody has been committed, 
hide it under a bushel, instead of placing it upon a candle- 
stick, we betray the cause of truth, and by our silence declare 
our willingness that it be banished from the earth. 

And here I may add, that, in a free government like our 
own, this manly avowal of our adherence to right, and our 
opposition to evil, would commonly render a resort to other 
measures comparatively needless. The good men among us 
— and under this term I mean to include all men of virluous 
sentiments, whether they profess themselves the disciples of 
Christ or not — have it perfectly in their power, by the calm 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 381 

and decided expression of their moral convictions, to direct 
the destinies of this nation. There never has existed, and 
there never can exist, either an administration or a politica. 
party, that would dare to trifle with the uttered sentiments of 
the men of principle in the United States. Were such an 
act done but once, there would be small temptation to repeat 
the insult. If you ask me why it is, then, that public wrongs 
are so frequently done, and the doers of them held scathless, 
I answer, it is because those sentiments are not uttered. 
There exists among us a fear of avowing our moral senti- 
ments upon political questions, which seems to me as servile 
as it is unaccountable. It envelops society like a poisoned 
atmosphere. It is invisible and intangible, but every virtuous 
sentiment that breathes it grows torpid, loses consciousness, 
gasps feebly, and dies. To this result every man contributes 
who withholds the expression of his honest indignation on 
every occasion of public wrong-doing. 

2. But the mere expression of our moral sentiments by no 
means discharges us from the responsibility which rests upon 
us as Christian citizens. Our sentiments are worthless, not to 
say savoring of hypocrisy, unless they lead us to correspond- 
ent action. When we believe an act to be wrong, we have 
no more right to appoint a man to office, who, as we believe, 
will perform it, than we have to perform it ourselves. For 
such a man we cannot, with a good conscience, vote. By 
refusing to vote for such a man, we in part deliver ourselves 
from the guilt of wrong-doing. But we must go farther. 
We must not merely have no part in wrong-doing, — we must 
see to it that wrong be not done. We must use all innocent, 
constitutional means to secure the doing of right. We must 
choose men to represent us whom we believe to be governed 
by moral principle, who will act in the fear of God, and who 
will love right, and justice, and mercy, better than personal 
aggrandizement or political power. By this, I do not mean 
that we should limit our selection to any religious sect, or to 
the professors of any form of belief. Far from it. All that 



382 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

I claim is, that we shall choose men who will represent the 
moral, as well as the political, sentiments of this nation. A 
virtuous man has certainly a right to demand that his moral 
feelings be not outraged by the public agent whom he appoints. 
If we sternly enforce this demand, we ourselves shall be 
innocent, and the republic will be safe. 

But suppose that our honest efforts thus put forth are inef- 
fectual, and a course of public wrong-doing has been actually 
commenced, — what is then our duty ? 

I reply, the fact that our country has commenced a course 
of wrong-doing, in no manner whatever alters the moral 
character of the action. The greater the number of persons 
combined to perpetrate injury, the greater is the wickedness 
and the more interminable the mischief. A nation seems a 
vast and magnificent conception to us, the children of yes- 
terday ; but it is otherwise with " Him who sitteth on the circle 
of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are like grasshoppers ; 
who taketh up the isles as a very little thing, and before whom 
all nations are counted as less than nothing and vanity." 
What, then, is the will of a nation in comparison with the 
command of Almighty God ? and what can be the measure 
of that impiety which exclaims, " Our country, whether right 
or wrong " ? that is, our country in defiance of the Eternal 
One himself. 

Every virtuous man must shrink back with trembling from 
so glaring an impiety, and look with abhorrence upon a cause 
which requires such sentiments to sustain it. If his country 
has done or is doing wrong, he must boldly and fearlessly 
express his opinion of the transaction. He must, as I have 
before remarked, use all the constitutional power which he 
possesses, in order to bring the public wickedness to a close. 
Were the good men of this nation thus to unite, national 
wickedness among us would be of very limited duration. 

But this is not all. While the wrong-doing is in progress, 
we are bound to have no further participation in it than our 
social condition renders indispensable. The punishment 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 383 

which God inflicts upon the nation for its crime, we must 
bear in common with our fellow-citizens. This we cannot 
avoid, and we must bear it manfully and uncomplainingly. 
But we can go no farther. We may have no share in the 
gains of iniquity. A good man can arm no privateers against 
his brethren of another nation because his government has 
styled them his enemies. He can loan no money to govern- 
ment, no matter how advantageous the terms of investment, 
in order to carry on an iniquitous war. He can undertake 
no contracts by which he may become rich out of the wages 
of unrighteousness. He may not say, If I do not reap these 
gains, other men will reap them. They are the gains of wick- 
edness, and let the wicked have them. If a good man 
believe that moral principle is better than gold, this is pre- 
cisely the occasion on which he is called upon to show his 
faith by his works. The only question for a conscientious 
man to ask is this : Is the public act wrong in the sight of God ? 
If it be wrong, he must have nothing to do with it, and he 
can no more innocently aid it with his capital than with his 
personal service. 

But it may be said, that a course of conduct like this would 
destroy all political organizations, and render nugatory the 
designations in which we have for so veiy long prided our- 
selves. If this be all the mischief that is done, the republic, 
I think, may very patiently endure it. The voice of history 
has surely spoken in vain, if it has not taught us that political 
parties have ever been combinations for the purposes of per- 
sonal aggrandizement, advocating or denouncing whatever 
political principles would best subserve the selfish objects 
which alone gave efficiency to their organization.* And 

* " The history of English party is as certainly that of a few great 
men and powerful families, on the one hand, contending for place and 
power, with a few others on the opposite quarter, as it is the history 
of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, and the Stuarts. There is nothing 
more untrue than to represent principle at the bottom of it ; interest 
is at th* bottom, and the opposition of principle is subservient to the 



384 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

besides this, if a disciple of Christ has learned to value his 
political party more highly than he does truth, and justice, 
and mercy, it is surely time that his connection with it were 
broken off. Let him learn to surrender party for moral prin- 
ciple, and stand forth, though he stand alone, the friend of 
righteousness. Let all good men do this, and they will form 
a party by themselves — a party acting in the fear of God, 
and sustained by the arm of omnipotence. Then would our 
nation present the glorious spectacle of a people governed by 
the laws of God ; obeying, above all things, the rule of eter- 
nal rectitude. Then God would be our refuge and strength : 
P very present help in trouble. God would be in the midst 
of us, and we should not be moved. God would help us, 
and that right early. 

To all this I know it will be answered, there are never 
more than two political parties ; and though with neither can 
a good man harmonize, yet he must unite with either the one 
or the other, lest his influence be altogether thrown away. 
He must, therefore, become a party to much that is wrong, 
that thus he may accomplish a probable good. To this ob- 
jection our reply must be brief. It declares it to be our duty 
to do wrong for the sake of attaining a purpose ; or, in the 



opposition of interest. Accordingly, the result has been, that unless 
perhaps when a dynasty was changed, as in 1688, and for some time 
afterwards, and excepting in questions connected with this change, 
the very same conduct was held, and the same principles professed, by both 
parties xchen in office, and by both in opposition. The Whig, when not 
in office, was for retrenchment and for peace ; transplant him into 
office, and he cared little for either. Bills of coercion, suspensions of 
the constitution, were his abhorrence when propounded by Tories ; 
in place, he propounded them himself. Acts of indemnity and of 
attainder were the favorites of the Tory in power ; the Tory in oppo- 
sition was the enemy of both. The gravest charge ever brought by a 
Whig against his adversary was the personal proscription of an exalted 
individual to please a king ; the worst charge that the Tory can level 
against the Whig is the support of a proscription still less justifiable, 
to please a viceroy." — Lord Brougham on the Effects of Party. 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 385 

words of the apostle, " to do evil that good may come." 
This is its simple and obvious meaning, and we leave it to 
the condemnation of the apostle. But, besides all this, when 
we urge such a plea, we seem to forget that there is a power 
in truth and rectitude, which wise men would be wiser did 
they duly appreciate. Let the moral principle of this coun- 
try only find an utterance, and party organizations would 
quail before its rebuke. How often have we seen a combi- 
nation, insignificant in point of numbers, breaking loose from 
the trammels of party, and uniting in the support of a single 
principle, hold the balance of power between contending 
parties, and wield the destinies of either at its will ! Let 
virtuous men, then, unite on the ground of universal moral 
principle, and the tyranny of party will be crushed. Were 
the virtuous men of this country to carry their moral senti- 
ments into practice, and act alone rather than participate in 
the doing of wrong, all parties would, from necessity, submit 
to their authority, and the acts of the nation would become a 
true exponent of the moral character of our people. 

And unless we do this, it is both folly and injustice to 
complain of the magistracy which we have set over us. We 
have no reason to expect in a legislator a higher degree of 
virtue than we possess ourselves. It is ungenerous to blame 
him for being a selfish partisan, when we ourselves have set 
him the example. It is unreasonable to expect him to sac- 
rifice office, emolument, and influence, for principle, while 
we dare not act from principle when we have none of these 
to lose. It is shameful to ask him to forsake his party for 
right, when we ourselves, if he obeyed our wishes, would be 
the first to abandon him. If we expect moral independence 
in our representatives, we must show them that we possess it. 
ourselves. If we ask them to peril their political influence 
for right, we must at least show them that the moral principle 
of their constituents will sustain them in well-doing. 

We see, then, that this whole discussion tends to one very 
simple practical conclusion. A virtuous man is bound to 
S3 



3S6 OBEDIENCE TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

carry his principles into practice in all the relations of life. 
He can no more do wrong in company than alone, and be 
guiltless. If he be a true man, he must love right, and jus- 
tice, and mercy, better than political party or personal popu- 
larity. If he fear God, he must obey God rather than man, 
and this fear must govern his conduct universally. In this 
matter, every man must begin not with his neighbor, but with 
himself; and, if he wish our country to be reformed, let him 
begin the work immediately. Let us all, then, lay these 
things solemnly to heart, and may God grant us grace to 
carry them into practice. 



VALUABLE WORKS 

PUBLISHED BY 

GOULD AND LINCOLN, 

59 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON. 



SACRED RHETORIC: Or, Composition and Delivery of Sermons. 
I By Henry J. Ripley, Prof, in Newton Theological Institution. Including Ware's 
\ Hints on Extemporaneous Preaching. Second thousand. 12mo, 75 cts. 

An admirable work, clear and succint in its positions and recommendations, soundly based on good 
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the selection of thoughts under each topic very happy. The work >s one that will command readers. 
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in studying thoroughly the subject it brings before them.— Phil. Ch. Observer. 

It presents a rich variety of rules for the practical use of the clergyman, and evinces the good sense, 
the large experience, and tivi excellent spiri of Dr. Ripley ; and the whole volume is well fitted to 
instruct and stimulate the writer of sermons. — Bibliotheca Sacra. 

An excellent work is hert offered to theological students and clergymen. It is not a compilation, 
but is an original treatise, f esh, practical, and comprehensive, and adapted to the pulpit offices of the 
present day. It is full of raluable suggestions, and abounds with clear illustrations. — Zion's Herald. 

It cannot be too frequer ly perused by those whose duty it is to persuade men. - Congregationalist. 

Prof. Ripley possesses ' he highest qualifications for a work of this kind. His position has given 
him great experience in I -ie peculiar wants of theological students. -- Providence Journal. 

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It is manifestly the fn**0f mature thought and large observation ; It is nervaded by a manly tone, 
and abounds injudicious tinsels; it is compactly written and admirably arranged, both for study 
nnd reference. It will b'ems" a text Dook for theological students, we have no doubt: that it deserves 
to be read by all ministers L tv. Ms as clear.— N. Y. Recorder. 

THE CHRISTIAN ^ORLD UNMASKED. By John Berridgk, 
A. M., Vicar of Everton, Beuf*»r(& a bire, Chaplain to the Right Hon. The Earl of Buchan, 
etc. New Edition. With Lite ?f th*> Author, by the Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D. D., 
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'-' The book," says Dr. -Guthrie, iu ids ImvMucfem, "which we introduce anew to the public 
has survived the test of years, and still stance towerl-n? abo'-e things of inferior growth like a cc.ur o: 
Lebanon. Its subject is all important ; in doctrine it is sc nd to the core ; it glows with fervent piety : 
it exhibits a most skilful and unsparing dissection of the (f.erf Drofe?=or; while its style is so remark- 
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THE SIGNET RING-, and Its Heavenly Motto. Translated from the 
German. Illustrated. 16mo, cloth, 31 cents. 

1B3f This little work is a polished gem of sparkling brilliancy. Seldom within so small a compass 
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olent persons, who, like Amos Lawrence, make it their pleasure to give away useful books by the 
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adapted to their purpose. ( .1 ;, ) 



DR. WILLIAMS'S WORKS. 



RELIGIOUS PROGRESS ; Discourses on the Development of the 
Christian Character. By William R. Williams, D. D. Third cd. 13uoo, cl., 85c. 

This work is from the pen of one of the brightest lights of the American pulpit. We scarcely know 
o;':i;.y living writer who luis a finer command of powerful thought and glowing, impressive language 
than lie. The volume will advance, if possible, the author's reputation. - Dr.. Sphaguk, Alb. Alius. 

This book is a rare phenomena in these days. It is a rich exposition of Scripture, with a fund of 
practical religious wisdom, conveyed in a styk so strong and massive as to remind one of the English 
v :>. s of two centuries, ago; and yet it abounds in fresh illustrations drawn from every (even the 
i.e.;) held ( .' science and of literature. — Methodist Quartt rly. 

Illi - T.ver of apt and forcible illustra'ion is without a parallel among modern writers. The mute 
TOges .i)ri :g into life beneath the magic of his radiant imagination. But this is never at the expense 
f of thought or strength of argument. Jt is seldom, indeed, that a mind of so much poetical 
invention yields such a willing homage to the logical clement. — Harper's Monthly Miscellany. 

V.'i h warm and glowing language. Dr. Williams exhibits and enforces the truth ; every page radiant 
with •' thoughts that burn." leave their indelible impression upon the rain ', - X. Y. Cum. Adv. 

The strength and compactness of argumentation, the correctness and beauty of style, and the im- 
portance of the animating idea of the discourses, are worthy of the high reputation of Dr. Williams, 
aud place them among the most finished homiletic productions of the day. - If, Y. Evangelist. 

Dr. Williams has no superior among American divines in profound and exact learning, and bril- 
liancy of style, lie seems familiar with the literature of the world, and lavs his vast resources under 
contribution to illustrate and adorn every thi mc which he investigates. We wish the volume could 
be placed in every religious family in the country. — Phil. Ch. Chronicle. 

LECTURES ON THE LORD'S PRAYER. Third cd. 32mo, cl., 85c. 

We observe the writer's characteristic fulness and richnei 3 of language, felicity and beauty of illus- 
tration, justness of discrimination and thought. — II •' 'fleeter. 

Dr. Williams is one of the most interesting and accomplished writers in this country. We wclcomo 
.his volume as a valuable contribution to our n ligious literature — Ch. Witness. 

In reading, wc resolved to mark the passages which we most admired, but soon found that we should 
be obliged to mark nearly all of them. — Ch. Secretary, 

It bears in every page the mark of an elegant writer and an accomplished scholar, an acute rensoner 
r.nd a cogent moralist. Some jo decidedly eloquent that we instinctively find ourselves 

looking round as if upon an audience, and ready to join them with audible applause— Ch. Inquirer. 

We are constantly reminded, in reading his eloquent pages, of the old English writers, whose vigor- 
ous thought, and gorgeous imagery, and varied learning, have made their writings an inexhaustible 
mine for the scholars of the present day. — Ch. Observer. 

Their breadth of view, strength of logic, and stirring eloquence place them among the very best hom- 
iletical efforts of the age. Every page is full of suggestion as well as eloquence. — Ch. Parlor May. 

MISCELLANIES. New, improved edition. (Price reduced.) 12mo, 1,25. 

C3~ This work, which has been heretofore published in octavo form at 1,75 per copy, is published by 
he present proprietors in one handsome 12mo volume, at the low price of 1,25. 

A volume which is absolutely necessary to the completeness of a library. — tf. Y. Weekly Review. 

Dr. Williams is a profound scholar and a brilliant writer. — X. Y. Evangelist. 

He often rises to the sphere of a glowing and impressive eloquence, because no other form of Ian- 
ernage can do justice to his thoughts and emotions. So. too, the exuberance of literary illustration, 
viih which he clothes the driest speculative discussions, is not brought in for the sake of effect, but as 
he natural expression of a mind teeming with the " spoils of time " and the treasures of study in al- 
most every department of learning. -- _V. Y. Tribune. 

From the pen of one of the most able and accomplished authors of the age. — Bap. Memorial, 

We are glad to see this volume. We wish such men abounded in every sect. — Ch. Register. 

: ne . c n,„ r ; cnes t volumes that has been given to the public for many years.— N. Y. Bap. Reg. 

Tht • ,,.,: '• mil. 1 is east in no common mould. A delightful volume. — Meih. Prot. Bib) 



THE PREACHER AND THE KING; 

OR, BOURDALOUE IN THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV. Being an 
Account of that distinguished Era. Translated from the French of L-. F. Btjk- 
gener, Faris, fourteenth edition. With an Introduction, by the Rev. George 
Fotts, D.D., N. Y. New edition, with a fine Likeness, and a Biographical 
Sketch oit the author. 12mo, cloth, $1.25. 

It combines substantial history vAth the highest charm of romance ; the most rigid philosophical crit- 
icism with a thorough analysis of human character and faithful representation of the spirit and man- 
ners of the age to which it relates. We regard the book as a valuable contribution to the cause not 
merely of general literature, but especially of pulpit eloquence. Jts attractions are so various that 
it can hardly fail to find readers of almost every description. — Puritan Recorder. 

Avery delightful book. It is full of interest, and equally replete with sound thought and profitable 
sentiment. — N. Y. Commercial. 

It is a volume at once curious, instructive, and fascinating. The interviews of Bourdaloue, and 
Claude, and those of Bossuet, Fenelon, and others, are remarkably attractive, and of finished tasU-. 
Other high personages of France are brought in to figure in the narrative, while rhetorical rules are 
exemplified in a manner altogether new. Its extensive sale in France is evidence enough of its ex- 
traordinary merit and its peculiarly attractive qualities. — Ch. Advocate. 

It is full of life and animation, and conveys a graphic idea of the state of morals and religion in the 
Augustan age of French literature. — N. Y. Recorder. 

This book will attract by its novelty, and prove particularly engaging to those interested in the pul- 
pit eloquence of an age characterized by the flagrant wickedness of Louis XIV. The author lias ex- 
hibited singular skill in weaving into his narrative sketches of the remarkable men who flourished at 
that period, with original and striking remarks on the subject of preaching. — Presbyterian. 

Its historical and biographical portions are valuable ; its comments excellent, and its effect pure and 
benignant. A work which we recommend to all, as possessing rare interest. — Buffalo Morn. Exp. 

A book of rare interest, not only for the singular ability with which it is written, but for the graphic 
account which it gives of the state of pulpit eloquence during the celebrated era of which it trea; r . 
It is perhaps the best biography extant of the distinguished and eloquent preacher, who above all oth- 
ers most pleased the king ; while it also furnishes many interesting particulars in the lives of his pro- 
fessional contemporaries. We content ourself with warmly commending it. — Savannah Journal. 

The author is a minister of the Reformed Church. In the forms of narrative and conversations, he 
portrays the features and character of that remarkable age, and illustrates the claims and duties oftha 
iacred ofrice, and the important ends to be secured by the eloquence of the pulpit. — Phil. Ch. Obs. 

A book which unfolds to us the private conversation, the interior life and habits of study of such 
men as Clauda, Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Massillon, and Bridaine, cannot but be a precious gift totha 
American churoh and ministers. It is a book full of historical facts of great value, sparkling with gems 
j>f tnought, polished scholarship, and genuine piety. - Cin. Ch. Advocate. 

This volume presents a phase of French life with which we have never met in any other work. Tha 
author is a minister of the Reformed Church in Paris, where his work has been received with unex- 
ampled popularity, having already gone through fourteen editions. The writer has studied not only 
the divinity and general literature of the age of Louis XIV., but also the memories of that period, until 
he is able to reproduce a life-like picture of society at the Court of the Grand Monarch. — Alb. Tram. 

A work which we recommend to all, as possessing rare interest. — Buffalo Ev. Express. 

In form it is descriptive and dramatic, presenting the reader with animated conversations between 
eome of the most famous preachers and philosophers of the Augustan age of France. The work v.il 
be read with interest by all intelligent men ; but it will be of especial service to the ministry, who cai,- 
not aflbrd to be ignorant of the facts and suggestions of this instructive volume. — iV. Y- Ch. Intel. 

The work is very fascinating, and the lesson under its spangled robe is of the gravest moment to 
every pulpit and every age. — Ch. Intelligencer. 

THE PRIEST AND THE HUGUENOT ; or Persecution in the Age 
of Louis XV. Part I., A Sermon at Court ; Part II., A Sermon in the City; Part III., 
A Sermon in the Desert. Translated from the French of L. Btjngener, author of 
" The Preacher and the King." 2 vols. 12mo, cloth, $2.25 DCr* A new Work. 

OS- This is truly a masterly production, full of interest, and may be set down as one of the greatest 
Frotestavt works of the age. Pf 



UNIVERSITY SERMONS 



SERMONS Delivered in the Chapel of Brown University. By the Rev. 
Francis Wavland, D. D. Third thousand. 12mo, cloth, 1,00. 

09-Dr. Wayland has here discussed most of the prominent doctrines of the Bible in his usual 
Hear and masterly style, viz. : Theoretical Atheism; Practical Atheism; Moral Character of Man ; 
Love to God ; Fall of Man ; Justification by Works impossible ; Preparation for the Advent of the 
Messiah; Work of the Messiah ; Justification by Faith; The Fall of Peter; The Church of Christ; 
The Unity of the Church ; The Duty of Obedience to the Civil Magistrate ; also, the Recent Revolu- 
tions in Europe. 

The discourses contained in this handsome volume are characterized by all that richness of thought 
11 n J elegance of language for which their talented author is celebrated. The volume is worthy of the 
pen of the distinguished divine from whom it emanates. — Dr. Baikd's Christian Union. 

Few sermons contain so much carefully arranged thought as these. The thorough logician is a p- 
parent throughout the volume, and there is a classic purity in the diction, unsurpassed by any writer, 
and equalled by few. — N. Y. Commercial. 

The author has long been before the public as one of our most popular writers in various depart- 
ments of science and morals. His style is easy and fluent, and rich in illustration. — Evan. Review. 

No thinking man can open to any portion of it without finding his attention strongly arrested, and 
feeling inclined to yield his assent to (hose self-evincing statements which appear on every page. As 
a writer, Dr. Way land is distinguished by simplicity, strength, and comprehensiveness. He addresses 
himself directly to the intellect more than to the imagination, to the conscience more than to the pas- 
sions. — Watchman and Reflector. 

Just issued, a noble volume of noble sermons, from the distinguished President of Brown Univer- 
sity. These discourses arc fine specimens of his discriminating power of thought, and purity and 
vigor of style. — Zion's I/> raid. 

Dr. Wayland's name and fame will cause any thing from his pen to be eagerly sought for ; and 
those who take up tins volume with the high expectations induced by his previous works, will not bo 
disappointed. The discourses are rich in evangelical truth, profound thought, and beautiful diction; 
worthy at once of the theologian, the philosopher, and the rhetorician. - Albany Argus. 

This volume adds to Dr. Wayland's fame as a writer. This is commendation enough to bestow 
upon any book. — Puritan Recorder. 

Dr. Wati.axd is one of the prominent Christian philosophers and literary men of our country. 
His style is elegant and polished, and his views evangelical. — Watchman, Cincinnati. 

His style is peculiarly adapted to arrest the attention, and his familiar illustrations serve to make 
plain the most abstruse principles, as well as to enstamp them upon one's memory. It is, in fact, 
scarcely possible to forget a discourse which we read from Wayland, and we have ever found his 
works to be highly suggestive. We think no minister's library complete without it. — Dover Star. 

We must call the attention of our readers again to this attractive volume of sermons. They come 
from one who has attained a national reputation, and embody the views matured by the careful study 
of many years upon the most important topics in theology. — Phil, Cli. Chronicle. 

It would be spending time to little purpose to attempt a eulogy on a work emanating from such a 
source. — X. Y. Baptist Register. 

THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST. By Ernest Sartorius, 
D. D., General Superintendent and Consistorial Director at Konigsberg, Prussia. Trans- 
lated from the German, by the Rev. Oakman S. Stearns, A. M. 18mo, cloth,. 42 eta. 

A work of much ability, and presenting the argument in a style that will be new to most American 
readers. It will deservedly attract attention. — K. Y. Observer. 

Dr. Sartorius is one of the most eminent and evangelical theologians in Germany. The work 
will be found, both from the important subjects discussed and the earnestness, beauty, and vivacity of 
its style, to possess the qualities which recommend it to the Christian public. — Mich. Ch. Herald. 

A little volume on a great subject, and evidently the production of a great mind. The style and 
train of thought prove this.— Southern Literary Gazette. 

Whether we consider the importance of the subjects discussed, or the perspicuous exhibition of truth 
in the volume before us, the chaste and elegant style used, or the devout spirit of the author, we can. 
not but desire that the work may meet with an extensive circulation. — Christian Index. 



HECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, as exhibited in the writings of 
its rpologists, down to Augustine, by AY. J. Bolton, of Gonville and Caius 
College, Cambridge. 12mo, cloth. 80 cents. 

The essay contained in this volume received the Hulsean prize (about $500) in England. 
The author is a professor in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and evidently a very 
learned student of the patristic writings and the whole circle of ecclesiastical history. He has 
presented to the world in this essay an admirable compendium of the arguments for the truth 
of Christianity advanced in the works of the Apologetic Fathers during the third, fourth, and 
fifth centuries of the Christian era. These arguments are classified as being deduced from 
antecedent probability, from antiquity, from prophecy, from miracles, from the reasonableness 
of doctrine, from superior morality, and from the success of the Gospel. — JV. T. Commercial. 

This '.s a work of deep research, and of great value to the theological student. — Transcript. 

We had occasion, some time since, to notice this work, when we expressed <v high estimate 
cf its merits. We can only say that, in looking through it a second time, our appreciation of 
both the learning and the ingenuity which it discovers is heightened rather than diminished 
We thankfully accept such an effort as this of a profound and highly-cultivated mind — Furi 
tan Recorder. 

The work bears the marks of great research, and must command the attention and confidence 
of the Christian world. — Mercantile Journal. 

THE BETTER LAND; or, Thoughts on Heaven. By A. C. Thompson, 
Pastor of the Eliot Church, Roxbury. 12mo, cloth. $1.00. Just published. 

THE MISSION OF THE COMFORTER; with copious Notes. By Julius 
Charles Hare. Notes translated for the American edition. 12mo, cl. $1.25. 

We hardly remember any treatise which is so well calculated to be useful in general circula- 
tion among ministers, and the more educated laity, than this, which is rich in spirituality, 
strong and soxtnd in theology, comprehensive in thought, vigorous and beautiful in imagination, 
md affluent in learning. — Congregationalist. 

We have seldom read a book with greater interest. — N. 7. Evangelist. 

The volume is one of rare value, and will be welcomed as an eloquent and Scriptural exposi' 
tion of some of the fundamental doctrines of our faith. —New York Recorder. 

THE VICTORY OF FAITH. By Julius Charles Hare, author of " The 
Mission of the Comforter," etc. 12mo, cloth. In press. 

VIRST LINES OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. In the form of a Syllabus, 
prepared for the use of Students, with subsequent Additions and Elucidations. 
By Rev. John Pye Smith. Edited from the author's manuscript;', with 
Additional Notes and References, etc. 1 vol. Royal octavo. $5.00 
XsSf A most important work for ministers and theological students. 

TIE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD, and their relations to Christianity. 
By Frederick Denison Maurice, A. M., Professor of Divinity in King's 
College, London. 16mo, cloth. 60 cents. 

The effort we deem masterly, and, in any event, must prove highly interesting by the com 
parisons which it institutes with the false and the true. His investigations into the Hindoo 
and Budhist mythologies will itself repay the reader's trouble. — Methodist Quarterly. 

OUTDO AND JULIUS. The Doctrine op Sin and the Propitiator; or, 
the True Consecration of the Doubter. Exhibited in the Correspondence of 
Wr Friends. By Frederis Augustut 0. Tholuch, D. D. Translated from 
tne U-erman, by Jonathan Edwards Ryland. With an Introduction by 
John Pye Smith, D. D. IGnio, cloth. 60 cents. 

j&3j=- It might naturally be expected that a work by authors so distinguished in the literary and 
T*li£rious world would prove one of great interest and value. This expectation will not be disap 
coir;i*J II is pre-eminent ir r ! >--'■,• fi,t •)■«> tJr.i.-< > n.i. .• '.■;, -*-pt. -->> <i ■ i ^r^ai nmvrr. 

<i) 



IMPORTANT W O 11 K 



KITTO'S POPULAR CYCLOPAEDIA OF BIBLICAL LITER A- 
TITRE. Condensed from the larger work. By tlie Author, John Kitto, D. I)., Author 
of" Pictorial Bible," *« History of Palestine," "Scripture Daily Readings," &x. Assisted 
by James Taylor, D. D., of Glasgow. With over Jive hundred Illustrations. One vol. 
ume octavo, 812 pp., cloth, 3,00. 

The Popular Biblical Cyclop.edia of Literature is designed to furnish a Diction-art 
ok T!i« Bible, embodying the products of the best and most recent researches in biblical literature, 
in which the scholars of Europe and America have been engaged. The work, the result of immense 
labor and research, and enriched by the contributions of writers of distinguished eminence in the VSf 
rious departments of sacred literature, has been, by universal consent, pronounced the best work of 
ii class extant, and the one best suited to the advanced knowledge of the present day in all the studies 
connected with theological science. It is not only intended for ministers and theological student*, 
hut is also particularly adapted to parents, Sabbath school teactiers, and the great body of the religious 
public. The illustrations, amounting to more than three hundred, are of the very highest order. 

A CO Of the various branches of Biblical Science comprehended in the work, 

1. Biblical CRITICISM,— Embracing the History of the Bible Languages ; Canon of Scripture; 
Literary History and Peculiarities of the Sacred Books ; Formation and History of Scripture Texts. 

2. IIistoky, — Proper Names of Persons ; Biographical Sketches of prominent Characters: Detailed 
Accounts of important Events recorded in Scripture ; Chronology and Genealogy of Scripture. 

". GEOOB m-iiv, — Names of Places; Description of Scenery ; Boundaries and Mutual Relations of 
the Countries mentioned in Scripture, so far as necessary to illustrate the Sacred Text. 

4. Ai:c ii. in i.<><; v, — Manners and Customs of the Jews and other nations mentioned in Scripture; 
their Sacred Institutions, Military Affairs, Political Arrangements, Literary and Scientific Pursuits. 

6. Physical Sciescb,— Scripture Cosmogony and Astronomy, Zoology, Mineralogy, Botany, 
Meteorology. 

In addition to numerous flattering notices and reviews, personal letters from more than fifty of the 
most distinguished Ministt rs eno ninations m the country have been 

received, highly commendin.!: this work as admirably adapted to ministers, Sabbath school teachers, 
ii.-ads of families, and all Bible students. 

The following extract of a letter is a fair specimen of individual letters received from each of the 
gentlemen whose names arc given below : — 

" I have examined it with special and unalloyed satisfaction. It lias the rare merit of being all that 
it professes to be, and very few, I am sure, who may consult it will deny that, in richness ami fulness 
Of detail, it surpasses their expectation. Many ministers will find it a valuable auxiliary; but its 
thief excellence is, that it furnishes just the facilities which are needed by the thousands in families 
and Sabbath schools, who are engaged in the important business of biblical education. It is in itself a 
library of reliable information." 

W. B. Sprague, D. D., Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, Albany, N. Y. 

J. J. Carruthers, D. D., Pastor of Second Parish Congregational Church, Portland, Me. 

Joel Hawes, D. D., Pastor of First Congregational Church, Hartford, Ct. 

Daniel Sharp, D. D., late Pastor of Third Baptist Church, Boston. 

N. L. Frothingham, D. D.,late Pastor of First Congregational Church, (Unitarian,) Boston. 

Ephraim Peabody, D. I)., Pastor of Stone Chapel Congregational Church, (Unitarian,) Boston. 

A. L. Stone, Pastor of Park Street Congregational Church, Boston. 

John S. Stone, D. D., Rector of Christ Church, (Episcopal,) Brooklyn, N. Y. 

J. B. Waterbury, D. D., Pastor of Bowdoin Street Church, (Congregational,) Boston. 

Baron Stow, D. D., Pastor of Rowc Street Baptist Church, Boston. 

Thomas H. Skinner, D. D., Pastor of Carmine Presbyterian Church, New York. 

Samuel W. Worcester, D. D., Pastor of the Tabernacle Church, (Congregational,) Salem. 

Horace Bushnell, D. D., Pastor of Third Congregational Church, Hartford, Ct. 

Right Reverend J. M. Wainwright. D. D., Trinity Church. (Episcopal.) New York. 

Gardner Spring, D. D., Pastor of the Brick Church Chapel Presbyterian Church, New York. 

W. T. Dwight, D. D., Pastor of Third Congregational Church, Portland, Me. 

E. N. Kirk, Pastor of Mount Vernon Congregational Church. Boston. 

Prof. George Bush, author of " Notes on the Scriptures," New York. 

Howard Malcom, D. D., author of " Bible Dictionary," and Pres. of Lewisburg University. 

Henry J. Ripley, D. D., author of " Notes on the Scriptures," and Prof in Newton Theol. Ins. 

N. Porter, Prof, in Yale College, New Haven, Ct. 

Jared Sparks, Edward Everett, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Robert C. Winthrop, John McLean, 

Simon Greenleaf. Thomas S. Williams, - and a large number of others of like character and 

standing of the above, whose names cannot here appear. H 



IMPORTANT WORKS. 

ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE OP THE HOLY SCRIPTURES; 

or, The Bible presented under Distinct and Classified Heads or Tcpics. By Johit 
Eadie, D.D., LL. D., Author of "Biblical Cyclopaedia," "Dictionary of the 
Bible," &c, &c. One volume, royal octavo, 833 pp. Cloth, $3.00; sheep, $3.50. 
Just published. 

The publishers would call the special attention of clergymen and others to some of the peculiar 
features of this great work. 

1. It is a concordance of subjects, not of words. In this it differs from the common concordance, 
Which, of course, it does not supersede. Both are necessary to the Biblical student. 

2. It embraces all the topics, both secular ajid religious, which are naturally suggested by the entire 
contents of the Bible. In this it differs from Scripture Manuals and Topical Text-books, which ara 
ion fined to religious or doctrinal topics. 

". It contains the whole of the Bible without abridgment, differing in no respect from the Bible in 
common use, except in the classification of its contents. 

4. It contains a synopsis, separate from the concordance, presenting within the compass of a few* 
pages a bird's-eye view of the whole contents. 

5. It cod tains a table of contents, embracing nearly two thousand heads, arranged in alphabetical 
order. 

G. It is much superior to the only other work in the language prepared on the same general plan, 
end is offered to the public at much less cost. 

The purchaser gets not only a Concordance, but also a BRJle, in this volume. The superior con- 
venience arising out of this fact, — saving, as it does, the necessity of having two bookj at hand and 
of making two references, instead of one, — will be readily apparent. 

The general subjects (under each of which, there are a vast number of sub-divisions) are arranged 
as follows, viz. : 

Ministers of Religion, Sacrifice, 
Miracles, Scriptures, 

Occupations, Speech, 

Ordinances, _ Spirits, 

Parables and Emblems, Tabernacle and Temple, 
Persecution, Vineyard and Orchard, 

Praise and Prayer, Visions and Dreams, 

Prophecy, "War, 

Providence, "Water. 

Redemption, 

, Sabbaths and Holy Days, 
That such a work as this is of exceeding great convenience is matter of obvious remark. But it 
f s much more than that ; it is also an instructive work. It is adapted not only to assist the student 
in prosecuting the investigation of preconceived ideas, but also to impart ideas which the most care- 
ful reading of the Bible in its ordinary arrangement might not suggest. Let him take up any one of 
the subjects — " Agriculture," for example — and see if such be not the case. This feature places 
the work in a higher grade than that of the common Concordance. It shows it to be, so to speak, a 
work of more mind. 

Ino Biblical student would willingly dispense with this Concordance when 'once possessed. It is 
adapted to the necessities of all classes, — clergymen and theological students; Sabbath-school 
*n:noiintendents and teachers; authors engaged in the composition of religious and even secular 
works; and, in fine, common readers of the Bible, intent only on their own improvement. 

A COMMENTARY ON THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ACTS 
OF THE APOSTLES. By Horatio B. Hackett. D. D., Professor of Biblical Liter- 
ature and Interpretation, in the ISTewton Theological Institution. DC?" A new, 
revised, and enlarged edition. Octavo, cloth. In Press. 

GST" This most important and very popular work, has been throughly revised (some parts being 
entirely rewritten), and considerably enlarged by the introduction of important new matter, the 
result of the Author's continued, laborious investigations since the publication of the first edition, 
oided by the more recent published criticisms on this portion of the Divine "Word, by othe>- distin^ 
euished Biblical Scholars, in this country and in Europe. (V 



Agriculture, 


Genealogy, 


Animals, 


God, 


Architecture, 


Ileaven, 


Army, Arms, 


Idolatry, Idols, 


Body, 


Jesus Christ, 


Canaan, 


Jews, 


Covenant, 


Laws, 


Diet and Dress, 


Magistrates, 


Disease and Death, 


Man, 


Earth, 


Marriage, 


Family, 


Metals and Mir 



MODERN ATHEISM. 

MODERN ATHEISM, under its Forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secu- 
larism, Development, and Natural Laws. By James Buchanan, D.D , LL.D. 
12mo, cloth, $1.25. 

The Author of this work is the successor of Dr. Chnlmers in the Chair of Divinity in the New 
College, Edinburgh, and the intellectual leader of the Scottish Free Church. 

From IIlgii Milled, Author ok " Old Red Sandstone," &c, &c. — The work before us is 
one of at onee the most readable and solid which we have ever perused. 

From the " Xkws of ti;i: CHURCHES."— It is a work of which nothing less can be said, than 
that, both in spirit and substance, stylo and argument, it fixes irreversibly the name of the null, r 
as a leading classic in the Christian Literature of Bril 

From Howard Malcom, d. n.. President of Lewisburq University 1 .— No work has 

come into my hands, for a long time, so helpful to me ns a teacher of metaphysics and n 
I know of nothing which will answer for a substitute. The public specially needs such a book at 
tins time, when the covert atheism of Ficlite, Wolfe, Hegel, Kant, Schelling, D'Holbach, Comte, 
Croussc, Atkinson, Murtineau, Leroux, Mackay, Holyoake, and others, is being spread abroad with 
all earnestness, supported, at least in some pi ices, both by church influence and university honors. 
I cannot but hope that a wok so timely, scholarly, and complete, will do much good. 

It is one of the most solid and remarkable books in its department of literature; one of the most 
scholarly and profound productions of modern Christian literature. — Worcester Transcript. 

Dr. Buchanan has earned a high and well-deserved reputation as a classical writer and cl' 
cal rcasoncr. lie deals heavy, deadly blows on atheism in all its various forms ; and wherever the 
work is read it cannot fail to dogooj. — CHRISTIAN SECRETARY. 

It is a work which places its author at once in the highest rank of modern religious authors. His 

analyses of the doctrines held by the various schools of modern atheism are admirable, and his 

m original and profound ; while his arguments in defence of the Christian faith are powerful 

and convincing. It is an attractive as well as a solid book ; and he who peruses a few of its pages is, 

as- it were, irresistibly drawn on to a thorough reading of the book.— Doston PORTFOLIO. 

The style is very felicitous, and the reasoning clear and cogent. The opposing theories arc fairly 
stated and combated with remarkable ease and skill. Even when the argument fills within the 
range of science, it is so happily stated that no intelligent reader can fail to understand it. Such a 
profound, dispassionate work is particularly called for at the present time.— Boston Journal. 

It is justly described as "a great argument," " magnificent in its strength, order, and beauty," in 
defence of truth, and against the variant theories of atheism. It reviews the doctrines of the dif- 
ferent schools of modern Atheism, gives a fair statement of their theories, answers and refutes them, 
never evading, but meeting and crushing their arguments. — Tn i la. Christian Observer. 

Dr. Buchanan is candid and impartial, too, as so strong a man can afford to be, evades no argument, 
undertakes no opposing view, but meets his antagonists with the quiet and unswerving confidence 
of a locomotive on iron tracks, pretty sure to crush them. — Christian Register. 

We hail this production of a master mind as a lucid, vigorous, discriminating, and satisfactory 
refutation of the various false philosophies which have appeared in modern times to allure ingenu- 
ous youth to their destruction. Dr. Buchanan has studied them thoroughly, weighed them dispas- 
sionately, and exposed their falsity and emptiness. His refutation is a clear stream of l.ght from 
beginning to end. — Piiila. Presbyterian. 

We recommend "Modern Atheism" as a book for the times, and as having special claims on 
theological students. — Universalist Quarterly. 

It is remarkable for the clearness with which it apprehends and the fairness with which it states, 
not less than for the ability with which it replies to, the schemes of unbelief in its various modern 
forms. It will be found easy to read— though not light reading — and very quickening to thought, 
while it clears away, one by one, the mists/which the Devil has conjured around the great doctrines 
of our Faith, by the help of some of his ingenious modern coadjutors, and leaves the truth of God 
standing in its serene and pristine majesty, as if the breath of hatred never had been breathed foith 
against it.— Congregationalist. 

Dr. Buchanan has here gone into the enemy's camp, and defeated him on his own ground. 
The work is a masterly defence of faith against dogmatic unbelief on the one hand, and that uni- 
versal skepticism on the other, which neither affirms nor denies, on the ground of an assumed 
deficiency of evidence as to the reality of God and religion. — N. Y. Christian Chronicle. 

It is a clearly and vigorous!}' written book. It is particularly valuable for its clear statement and 
masterly refutation of the Pantheism of Spinoza and his School. — Christian Herald. (•* j 



IMPORTANT MW WORKS. 

THE TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS : or, Geology in its Bearings on 
the two Theologies, Natural and Revealed. By Hugh Miller. " Thou shait he 
in league with the stones of the field." — Job. "With numerous elegant illustrations. 
12mo, cloth, $1.25. 

The completion of this important work employed the last hours of the lamented author, and may 
be considered his greatest and in fact his life work. 

MACATJLAY ON SCOTLAND. A Critique. By Hugh Miller, 
Author of " Footprints of the Creator/' &c 16mo flexible cloth, 25c. 

When we read Macaulay's last volumes, we said that they wanted nothing but the fiction to make 
a:i epic poem; and now it seems that they are not wanting even in that. — Puritan Recorder. 

lie meets the historian at the fountain head, tracks him through the old pamphlets and newspapers 
on which he reUed,and demonstrates that his own authorities are against him.— Boston Transcript. 

THE GREYSON LETTERS. Selections from the Correspondence of 

E. E. II. Greyson, Esq. Edited by Henry Rogers, Author of " The Eclipse of Faith." 

12nio, cloth, $1.25. 

" Mr. Greyson and Mr. Rogers are one and the same person. The whole work is from his pen ; 
and every letter is radiant with the genius of the author of the ' Eclipse of Faith.' " It discusses a 
wide range of subjects in the most attractive manner. It abounds in the keenest wit and humor, 
satire and logic. It fairly entitles Mr. Rogers to rank with Sydney Smith and Charles Lamb as a 
wit and humorist, and with Bishop Butler as a reasoner. 

If Mr. Rogers lives to accomplish our expectations, we feel little doubt that his name will share, 
with those of Butler and Pascal, in the gratitude and veneration of posterity. — London Quarterly. 

Full of acute observation, of subtle analysis, of accurate logic, fine description, apt quotation, pithy 
remark, and amusing anecdote. . . . A book, not for one hour, but for all hours; not for one mood, 
but for every mood, to think over, to dream over, to laugh over. — Boston Journal. 

A truly good book, containing wise, true and original reflections, and written in an attractive style. 

— Hon. Geo. S. Hillard, LL. D., in Boston Courier. 

Mr. Rogers has few equals as a critic, moral philosopher, and defender of truth. . . . This volume 
is full of entertainment, and full of food for thought, to feed on. — Philadelphia Presbyterian. 

The Letters are intellectual gems, radiant with" beauty and the lights of genius, happily inter- 
mingling the grave and the gay. — Christian Observer. 

ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM. By Peter Bayne, 
M. A., Author of " The Christian Life, Social and Individual." Arranged in two Series, 
or Parts. 12mo, cloth, each, $1.25. 

This work is prepared by the author exclusively for his American publishers. It includes eign-, 
teen articles, viz : 
First Serifs :— Thomas De Quincy. — Tennyson and his Teachers.— Mrs. Barrett Browning. 

— Recent Aspects of British Art. — John Ruskin. — Hugh Miller. — The Modern Novel ; Dickens, &c. 

— Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell. — Charles Kingsley. 

Second Series : — S. T. Coleridge. — T. B. Macaulay. — Alison. — "Wellington. — Napoleon. -- 
Plato. - Characteristics of Christian Civilization. — Education in the Nineteenth Century. — The 
Pulpit and the Press. 

LIFE AND CHARACTER OE JAMES MONTGOMERY. Abridged 
from the recent London, seven volume edition. P>y 21rs. H. C. Knight, Author 
of '• Lady Huntington and her Friends, - : &c. With a fine likeness and an elegant 
illustrated title page on steel. 12mo, cloth, $1.25. 

This is an original biography prepared from the abundant, but ill-digested materials con- 
tained in the seven octavo volumes of the London edition. The great bulk of that work, together 
With the heavy style of its literary execution, must necessarily prevent its republication in this 
country. At the same time, the Cbfistta'.! pV.hl't! in America will expect some memoir of a poet 
whose hymns and sacred melodies har'e d'jen t'rr <h light of every household. This work, it is confi- 
dently hoped, will fully satisfy rhe p-iYVi 'I'fft A) is prepared by one who has already won distin- 
Suisiio.i 'sturcls in thisd; partnu-nt <■" '.f t i' ,- ,• : (:*;) 



N E TT W I t K S 

THE TEACHER'S LAST LESSON. A Memoir of Maktma Whitiwo. Iat« 

of the Charlestown Female Seminary, consisting chiefly of Extracts from hei 

Journal, interspersed with Reminisences and Suggestive Reflections. Bv 

Catharine N. Badger, an Associate Teacher. With a Portrait, and an 

Engraving of the Seminaiy. 12mo. Cloth. $1.00. Second Edition. 

The subject of thi3 Memoir was, for a quarter of a century, at the head of one of 

the mast celebrated Female Seminaries in the country. During that period she 

educated more than three thousand young ladies. She was a kindred spirit to Mary 

Lyon, the celebrated founder of Mount Holyoke Seminary, with whom, lor strength 

of character, eminent piety, devotion to her calling, and extraordinary Pueccss 

therein, she well deserves to be ranked. 

MY" MOTHER: or Recollections of Maternal Influence. By a New Englanj. 

Clergyman. 12mo. Cloth. 75 Cents. 

This is a new and enlarged edition of a work that was first published in 1849. It 
passed rapidly through three editions, when the sale was arrested by the embarrass- 
ment of the publisher. The author has now revised it, and added another chapter, 
60 that it comes before the public with the essential claims of a new work. . . . 
It is the picture of a quiet New England family, so drawn and colored as tosubporve 
[he ends of domestic education. The central figure is the author's mother, armiud 
whom are grouped the various members of the family. Biographical sketches and 
lessons of practical wisdom are so intermingled, that while the former relieve the 

latter, these in turn give force and significance to the sketches The 

author has already distinguished himself in various walks of literature, hut from 
motives of delicacy tow aids the still surviving characters of the book, he chooses lor 

the present to conceal his namC A writer of wide celebrity says of the 

book, in a note to the publisher — " It is one of those rare pictures, painted from life, 
with the exquisite skill of one of the old masters, which so seldom present themselves 
to the amateur. '* 

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. By Thomas A'Kempts. With an 
Introductory Essay, by Dr. Chalmers. Edited by Howard Malcolm, D. D. 
A New EDITION, with a Life or Thomas A'KEMFIS. By Dr. C. ULLMAN, author 
of " Reformers before the Reformation." 12mo, cloth. 85 cents. 
\* This work has, for three hundred years, been esteemed one. of the best prac- 
tical books in existence, and has gone through a vtfst number of editions, not only in 
the original Latin, but in every language of Europe. 

This may safely be pronounced the best Protestant edition extant. It is re- 
printed from Payne's edition, collated with an ancient Latin copy. The peculiar 
feature of this new edition is the improved page, the elegant, large, clear type, and 
the New Life of A'Kemfis, by L'llmann. Born nearly live hundred years ago, 
Thomas A'Kempis is almost unknown. While the Memoir prefixed to former Amer« 
ican editions, and purporting to give all the factr, is contained in a few paragraphs, 
this life extends to more than fifty pages. 

Dr. Payson, in conversing with a young minister, once said, "If you have not seen 
< Thomas A'Ke??ipis,^ I beg you to procure it. For spirituality and weanedness from 
the world, I know of nothing equal to «'£." 

EXCLTJSIVENESS OF THE BAPTISTS. A Review of the Rev. 
Albert Barxes' Pamphlet on "Exclusivism." By Henry J. Ripley, Newton Theo- 
logical Institution. 12mo, printed cover, 13 cents. 

A thorough, candid, yet searching Review of Dr. Barnes' unfounded charges against the 
Baptists. It contains much important information on controverted subjects between Bap- 
tists and Pedo-Baptists, especially that usually termed " Close Communion." No better 
work can be placed in the hands of any one desiring light on this subject. The manner 
of treatment, the size, and the price, all rondor it admirably adapted to general circulation. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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